Annual profits more than double for The AA ahead of pandemic

They were up 102 per cent to £107 million on turnover that rose two per cent to £995m.

Chief executive Simon Breakwell said it had been a year of strong operational and financial performance for The AA, which has a major operations and calls centre at Swallowfield One, Oldbury, and further delivery on its strategic plan.

"The business continued to perform in line with our expectations through February and March of this year but as we entered April we started to see greater variance as a result of Covid-19. We have responded quickly with changes to our operations, both in roadside and insurance, and material cost reduction programmes to mitigate the significant uncertainty ahead.

"We continue to deliver a high-quality service to our members and customers and are also working to support those fighting the virus. I am deeply humbled by the work our fantastic people are doing to support key workers. We launched a free of charge breakdown provision for NHS workers and have so far assisted over 2,500 NHS staff.

"We are also providing maintenance and repair services to the London Ambulance Service, helping to keep over 600 ambulances on the road, as well as assisting other ambulance services around the country," said Mr Breakwell.

He added that The AA currently expect itsr performance this year to be robust in the circumstances and only slightly below that of 2019-2020 assuming a partial lifting of the lockdown restrictions in early or mid summer and a gradual return to a more normalised trading environment during the rest of the year.

With fewer cars on the road during the lockdown total breakdowns are materially down, whilst new membership sales have fallen overall and retention rates have been marginally down. Parts and battery sales have been significantly higher than normal.

To protect the health and wellbeing of staff, customers and suppliers it has introduced wide ranging safeguarding protocols across the group including the implementation of home working which has enabled the closure of all our offices except for a reduced workforce in Oldbury, the national emergency breakdown centre.

For those at Oldburym and patrols working on the front line, The AA has introduced safe systems of work in line with Government guidelines to ensure that all staff are able to carry out their work safely and have adequate supplies of personal protective equipment.