Sandicliffe Motor Group has blamed a shortage of skilled technicians for impacting workshop capacity as rising employment costs and lower aftersales productivity contributed to a sharp fall in profit.
The East Midlands AM100 dealer group said its workshops had not achieved their expected evels during 2025 because it could not recruit enough skilled technicians.
The disclosure in its latest full year results illustrates the financial effect of the automotive skills shortage on dealerships, with unfilled workshop capacity restricting aftersales activity while employment costs continue to rise.
Sandicliffe said: “Despite a year on year increase in turnover, the company has seen a reduction in gross profit due to a rise in labour cost due to the increase in the national minimum wage and national insurance threshold. A shortage in the labour supply for skilled technicians in the industry led to our workshops not being fully utilised to budgeted levels.”
Workshop capacity goes unused
The average number of productive employees across the group fell from 129 to 120 during the year, according to its latest accounts.
Sandicliffe’s total workforce declined from 463 to 435, although overall payroll costs remained almost unchanged at £17.55 million.
Wages and salaries decreased from £15.12m to £14.88m, but employer social security costs increased 21.5% from £1.45m to £1.77m.
The combination of higher employment costs and unused workshop capacity added to pressure on the group’s margins.
Gross profit declined 4.1% from £25.39m to £24.33m, despite turnover increasing 3.8% from £291.46m to £302.55m. The gross margin consequently narrowed from 8.7% to 8.1%.
Operating profit more than halved from £3.47m to £1.54m. Sandicliffe recorded a £147,000 pre-tax loss, compared with a £2.17m profit in the previous year, while its loss after tax was £274,000.
New brands lift turnover
Sandicliffe added BYD, Xpeng and Changan to its manufacturer portfolio during 2025, helping to increase new car sales to retail and established fleet customers.
The group said demand for electric vehicles remained stronger among corporate customers than private buyers as manufacturers worked towards the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate targets.
Sandicliffe also represents Ford, MG and Mazda and said the expanded manufacturer portfolio left it well placed to serve future demand for new and used vehicles as well as the maintenance of electrified powertrains.
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