Industry’s very best car,
van and bike retailers celebrated at the 16th
Auto Trader Retailer Awards
Thursday 19th October 2023, London – The UK’s most progressive retailers gathered at London’s iconic 8 Northumberland Avenue yesterday for this year’s Auto Trader Retailer Awards. 2023 marked the first time since its launch in 2007, that van and bike retailers were recognised alongside their car dealing counterparts, ensuring this year’s Awards truly celebrated the very best in automotive retail.
With over 150 retailers attending the ceremony, 8 Northumberland Avenue was full of thunderous applause yesterday as 22 retailers lifted trophies in recognition for their exceptional customer service, digital excellence, commitment to sustainability, or for successfully adapting to the challenges of today’s exceptionally fast- moving market.
The top accolade, the Retailer of the Year, was awarded to nine businesses in total, representing the very best of the best across the car, van and motorbike landscape: Phil Weaver (under 50 cars), GBI Cars (50-100 cars), and Sandown Mercedes (over 100 cars) in the car category; Roy Wood Transit (under 20 vans), Herts & Essex Van (20-50 vans), and Van National (over 50 vans) in the van category; and Marque One (under 20 bikes), 5-Ways Motorcycle Centre (20-50 bikes), and Destination Triumph (over 50 bikes) in the motorbike category.
Award winners were described as ‘truly inspirational’ and ‘the best-of-the-best’ by Auto Trader’s sales directors, Rebecca Clark and Matt Schofield, who presented the awards alongside COO, Catherine Faiers, Editorial Director, Erin Baker, and YouTube Director, Rory Reid.
From an engaging digital experience to outstanding customer service, the Retailer Awards recognised the top performing automotive retailers in the UK across nine different categories, including the Customer Experience Award. Based on one of the largest mystery shopping exercises of its type, the category saw 1,000 of Auto Trader’s best performing retailers gradually whittled down to just three deserving winners via three mystery shopping phases: email (1,000 retailers), telephone (500 retailers) and then a full digital audit (150 retailers).
The winners of the Customer Experience Award were Livingstone Motor Group (under 50 cars); Simpson’s Skoda (50-100 cars); and Ray Chapman Motors (over 100 cars).
Of the nine categories, four were self-nomination: The Innovation Award, which recognised a retailer that had successfully implemented a bold innovation that’s markedly improved its business; The People & Culture Award, which identified those businesses that are going above and beyond to provide the very best working culture for its colleagues; and The Sustainability Initiative Award, which showcased the best examples of businesses taking steps to lower their carbon emissions and help combat climate change.
Retailers were also able to self-nominate for The Rising Star Award, which identifies those burgeoning businesses that are destined to set the industry alight. This year’s very deserving winner was Car Brothers Northern Ireland.
This year saw the highest number of self-nominations ever to enter the Awards, which were judged by an independent panel, made up of experts from John Lewis, Capgemini, Compare the Market, The Carbon Literacy Project, and award-winning marketing agency, The Specialist Works.
Commenting on this year’s winners, Auto Trader’s Group Sales Director, Rebecca Clark, said:
It’s always such a joy to recognise our industry’s most exceptional retailers, but this year felt particularly special to also celebrate van and bike businesses, who are in every way as inspiring as their car counterparts. The industry has and is changing at a pace, but again we see the huge innovation and agility of retailers, and so it’s a privilege to be able to celebrate those businesses that are truly driving our industry forward. Their achievements give me nothing but confidence for the months ahead.
Winners of the 2023 Auto Trader Retailer Awards:
As well as trophies, the winners were provided with a host of assets to promote their success to potential car buyers, including window stickers, digital logos, and social media posts.
-ENDS-
About Auto Trader
Auto Trader Group plc is the UK’s largest automotive marketplace. It listed on the London Stock Exchange in March 2015 and is a member of the FTSE 100 Index.
Auto Trader’s purpose is Driving Change Together. Responsibly. Auto Trader is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture, it aims to build stronger partnerships with its customers and use its voice and influence to drive more environmentally friendly vehicle choices.
With the largest number of car buyers and the largest choice of trusted stock, Auto Trader’s marketplace sits at the heart of the UK car buying process. That marketplace is built on an industry-leading technology and data platform, which is increasingly used across the automotive industry. Auto Trader is continuing to bring more of the car buying journey online, creating an improved buying experience, whilst enabling all its retailer partners to sell vehicles online.
Auto Trader publishes a monthly used car Retail Price Index which is based on pricing analysis of circa 800,000 unique vehicles. This data is used by the Bank of England to feed the broader UK economic indicators.
For more information, please visit: www.plc.autotrader.co.uk
For all media enquiries, please contact:
Andrew Nankervis | Andrew.Nankervis@autotrader.co.uk 07720 896760
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