Scottish and Merseyside Ford retailer Peoples has seen its profits for the past two years wiped out due to an an accountancy error. The group has been hit by a £4.4m write off after unwittingly overstating its assets for a number of years. Instead of a £1.3m profit for 2003, it effectively made an £880,000 loss
Scotland's largest Ford dealership, Peoples, is planning to move from its home in Bathgate to a new multi-million pound flagship sales centre by the M8, the main route between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Ford is planning to have 10 Direct supersites in the UK by the end of next year, which will handle the majority of its used car sales for models under two years old. Peoples has opened the first site, a £3m venture in Prescot, near Liverpool. It expects the business to turn over £15m-£17m in its first year, selling about 1550 used Fords.
Glasgow-based Peoples has invested £2.5m in Europe's first Ford Direct Superstore which is projected to have a £2m turnover and sell 2,000 used cars a year.
