Marshall Motor Group is poised to join the £1bn turnover club as it confirms a new five year plan and announces it will now only grow its representation with existing partners.

The Cambridge-based group’s provisional figures for the year-ended December 2013 will show a record turnover of £965m, up 18% year-on-year, and a forecasted operating profit of £11.8m. However, with the group achieving strong sales since Boxing Day, CEO Daksh Gupta confirmed that turnover in the rolling year to the end of February will exceed £1bn.

“Like for like sales are up 18%, while overall sales are up 33% year-on-year. The job’s on fire. We will tip over a £1bn turnover at the end of February,” he said. Gupta also revealed the group, rated 11 in the Motor Trader Top 200, has launched its second five year plan aimed at achieving organic growth, although it will continue to make acquisitions, and best practices for customer satisfaction. “Phase 2 will take our scalable business and focus on what we need to do to drive profitability and that’s around the culture of the business and processes.”

Gupta also confirmed the group will focus solely on growing with the brands it currently represents, with the exception of upmarket marques not in its portfolio. “Our strategy today is that we will only grow with our existing partners. The only exception to that would be premium or specialist brands.” Last month Marshall added Maserati to its portfolio and will open a dedicated showroom in Peterborough in April.

original story taken from Motor Trader –  http://www.motortrader.com/industry-news/marshall-joins-1bn-club/