Commercial vehicle and heavy plant dealer Britcom International saw turnover fall almost £5 million as the pandemic hit as it entered its 40th year.
The East Yorkshire specialist saw revenues drop from £23.1 million to £18.2 million, with gross profits down from £3.9 million to £3.1 million.
It came in a year that saw a £1.4 million expansion complete at the Market Weighton base, with second generation joint managing director Chris Urwin overseeing the addition of a six bay engineering workshop.
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Hopes for a wider celebration and launch were dashed by Covid, as it brought forward its strategy to build on the domestic market having launched as a strong exporter in Hull back in 1981.
With the major addition at the 14-acre site came job creation, with employees up 11 from 64 to 75 in the year, which ended on March 31.
Exports to Africa stayed strong, with Middle and Far East, Americas and Australia the worst hit.
Reflecting on the 21.3 per cent drop in revenues, Mr Urwin said: "Despite the issues with Covid-19 and lockdowns, we were encouraged by the final results from 2020/21. The current financial year has started off promisingly, although like many industries, we have experienced a slowdown in recent months primarily due to supply side issues on both new and used vehicles.
"However, demand is still buoyant for vehicle sales and also for our chassis engineering, bodybuilding and paintshop services, and hopefully the supply situation will start to improve from quarter one of 2022."
The investment is seen as preparing Britcom for the long-term, with a total of 20 engineering bays now available, supporting the chassis and bodybuilding element of the company, while complementing a commercial paint shop.
Alongside Market Weighton, where Mr Urwin’s grandparents once sold petrol, Britcom has sales sites in Manchester and Kenya.
Mr Urwin’s father, Ray, had launched the business after dabbling in international trade with a DAF dealership he was a manager at in Hedon Road.
First employee, Paul Mercer, is now joint managing director.
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