AM Award winner TrustFord is well along its journey to excellence

It was a tightly contested head-to-head contest between two titans of the AM100 for the accolade of Dealer Group of the Year (more than 10 sites), sponsored by Motors.

The AM Awards judges deemed TrustFord to be the deserving winner, by a majority decision, due to it being further along its journey to excellence than its rival.

Also this category’s winner in 2023, TrustFord has been widely celebrated for its focus on employee welfare, on the diversity of its workforce and on the activities of all its sites and head office to support communities and good causes.

Its low staff churn and low absenteeism are indicative that its people are happy in the workplace; indeed there is a feeling of pride at being part of the group.

Its entry also highlighted that it has much focus on improving its environmental performance, even by adjusting opening hours on the basis of observed traffic to reduce its energy consumption, and on improving its processes generally, such as through automation.

To some extent, it is reliant on owner, Ford Motor Company, to develop and supply the new cars and light commercial vehicles that buyers desire. In fallow times it has no luxury of being able to compensate with other franchises, it simply has to raise its game even further.

However, it has innovated. It has focused on speed of sale with used cars, and in aftersales its mobile service vans are accounting for one-in-five of its total service jobs.

It is a strong-performer, not just among other manufacturer-owned retail groups, but within the entire Ford UK network itself.

Finalists:

• Steven Eagell Group
• TrustFord

Sponsor's comment:

"Congratulations to everyone at TrustFord on winning the Dealer Group of the Year (more than 10 sites) at the 2024 AM Awards.

"As the proud sponsor of this category we are delighted that the innovation, professionalism and high levels of customer service demonstrated by TrustFord has been rewarded with this highly coveted industry award.

"With the AM Awards judging panel analysing the group’s performance over the past five years, this award recognises and rewards all the hard work and achievements of the TrustFord team across new and used vehicle sales and aftersales.

"As the winner of Dealer Group of the Year, TrustFord has set the bar high for what can be achieved by a large dealer group that retains a clear focus on delivering the very best for all its customers and employees.

"We also commend the extremely high standards being set by all the finalists in this category."

Phill Jones, chief operating office, Motors