Bradford Dealership Lands Top Award

Farnell Land Rover in Bradford has taken the top award at the annual Land Rover Dealer Conference and Awards ceremony.

Left to Right: Craig Roberts - Dealer Principal Leeds, Phil Howe - Group After Sales Manager, Jatinder Aujla, Group Operations Manager, James Wormald - Dealer Principal Bradford, Geoff Bates - Sales Manager Bradford, Paul Rushfirth - After Sales Manager Bradford

The Kings Road dealership – part of The Co-operative Motor Group - beat stiff competition from more than 130 approved Land Rover dealerships across the UK to be awarded the coveted title ‘Dealer of the Year’ by the vehicle manufacturer.

The Land Rover specialist also took second place in the Service Centre of the Year and Sales Dealer of the Year categories, whilst the Group’s Leeds dealership took the Service Centre of the Year award.

Bradford’s Farnell dealership was one of the very first Land Rover dealerships in the world, and invested £1m in its new showroom prior to its re-opening in January 2011.

Jatinder Aujla, Group Operations Manager, said: “To win this award just one year after re-launching the dealership perfectly illustrates the excellent customer service we provide. It is also particularly gratifying since I am Bradford born and bred and very proud of my hometown. It was great to be able to promote Bradford on the national stage as a successful place to do business.

The awards cap a great year for Farnell, which reported strong sales for Christmas 2011: new like-for-like car purchases were up 60 per cent for the period.

The results were driven by demand for the recently unveiled Range Rover Evoque, the Victoria Beckham endorsed vehicle that has been designed to appeal as much to urban drivers as to those who want to go off-road.

Sales have also been extremely positive in other areas of the Farnell dealerships, with turnover in after sales and parts up 18 per cent, and turnover in the provision of finance up 13 per cent.