Leeds-based Zenith delivers record turnover of £589m as it supports 1,200 jobs

The Leeds-based company, which employs more than 1,200 people, delivered turnover of £589m in the year ended March 31 2022, a 20 per cent increase on the £491m in the prior year. The company also delivered its best-ever adjusted EBITDA of £78.2m, an increase of 27 per cent.

In a statement, the company said: "These record financial results reflect growth across all of Zenith’s divisions and delivery against its strategy to drive the adoption of electric vehicles .

"As part of its focus on driving sustainable growth, Zenith is proud to be one of the largest purchasers of electric vehicles in the UK, with more than 23,000 battery electric vehicles currently in its fleet or on order. In January 2022 the company successfully launched a £475m Green Bond, the sector’s biggest ever, with the commitment to spend at least this amount over the next two years to expand its battery electric vehicle fleet yet further."

The company also said it secured a strong order book of more than 14,000 vehicles going into the current financial year; which it said was a sign of sustained growth for when supply returns to normal.

Zenith said it was seeing increasing demand from corporate customers for support on the delivery of their sustainability agendas, as they work to decarbonise and electrify their fleets and develop salary sacrifice schemes.

It also launched Zenith’s new People Promise, which led to more than 190 staff joining the Zenith workforce. It said it had emerged from the pandemic in a robust condition and had repaid £0.9m received via the Government’s furlough scheme.

Tim Buchan, Chief Executive Officer, Zenith, said: “We delivered another year of excellent operating and financial performance as Zenith continues to go from strength to strength, exemplified by the 27 per cent growth in EBITDA to £78.2m.

“While the UK is in challenging economic times, I am encouraged by the strength and resilience of Zenith’s business model and strategy. Despite headwinds such as the continued shortage in new car production and macroeconomic uncertainty, we are well placed to make progress and develop our business, driven by our three key enablers – powered by people, reinforced with technology and supported by scalable, sustainable funding.

“Against this economic backdrop we are facing the longer-term challenges of the climate crisis and the imperative to decarbonise. Zenith’s vision is to end tailpipe emissions and I am

encouraged to see that demand for electric vehicles is stronger than ever and that, across our divisions, we have the scale, expertise, delivery platform and great people, to help our customers make the transition to zero carbon transport.

“I would also like to take the opportunity to thank our customers for their loyalty, our partners for their continuing support and our people for their dedication and commitment to the service of their customers in these challenging times.”