Arnold Clark had its most successful year in its history in 2014 with a 12.3% increase in turnover to £3.27 billion and a 26% increase in pre-tax profits to £107 million.

The top three AM100 group put the growth down to the increase in its sales figures, with a 7.5% increase to 249,000 units.

The business is confident it will break the 250,000 unit sales barrier for the first time this year.

Eddie Hawthorne, Arnold Clark managing director, said: “The group has had a strong year in terms of sales and we hope to continue this into 2016.

“The number of acquisitions the group takes on is increasing and we are happy with the progress the group makes as it develops the Arnold Clark brand throughout the UK.

“As a family enterprise, we maintain a strong commitment to providing unrivalled customer satisfaction. Our employees are the most vital asset to the business and we know we would not be seeing these numbers without their passion for the Arnold Clark brand.”

The number of employees grew by 340 to 9,270.

New sites contributed to the increase in employee numbers with the completion of a new Motorstore and Fiat branch in August and a new Activa site in Milton Keynes. The company’s training provider, GTG Training, also opened a new, purpose-built training and conference site in Edinburgh.

Arnold Clark now has over 200 dealerships in the UK and represents 23 manufacturers.