Speedy 1, owner of the Kwik-Fit motor parts empire, boosted sales by 3.3% last year to £779m and gross profit by 1.6% to £11m, according to its latest accounts.

It added 71 trading outlets during the year, and took its headcount to some 10,000.

Sale and lease-back deals made a profit of £56m, but the company booked £73m of goodwill impairment, which contributed to exceptional operating costs of £87m, and it recorded a loss for the year of £74m.

Net liabilities increased by two-and-a-half times during the year from £52m to £130m, but the company says it "generates sufficient profits and cash flows to fund the servicing and repayment of debt".

Kwik-Fit's founder and former owner Sir Tom Farmer, meanwhile, has seen a lull in activity at his Morston Securities property investment vehicle. Its accounts show the group turning over barely £27,000 last year, against the 2006 turnover of £12.7m.

Investment interest of more than £372,000 enabled the group to show a pre-tax profit of £108,000, against the previous year's £5.6m.

The dividends paid were still a healthy £3.1m (against £4.3m last time) thought there was a nil management fee (£500,000) to Maidencraig Investments, 100% owned by Farmer.