EMH ends Asda car wash deal

European Motor Holdings has ended an experimental two-year retail car wash agreement with Asda because it did not produce high enough profits.

EMH, which owns Wilcomatic, sold its Ocean venture to IMO, a national retail car wash operator, for £1.2m. The group made a profit of £100,000 by disposing of Ocean, which ran car washes at five Asda supermarkets.

Richard Palmer, EMH chief executive, says: “We hoped we would make money at these sites but the business made a pre-tax loss of £200,000 in the year to February 29. Asda wanted us to continue but their expectations and ours were different.”

For £490m turnover EMH, Wilcomatic contributes sales of £14m a year and holds service agreements at nearly 2,000 sites. EMH has 41 sales outlets and its main partners are the Volkswagen, Ford PAG and BMW.