Cotswold Mini Cheltenham claimed Mini UK’s Dealer of the Year title during an event celebrating the successes of the brand’s 139 franchised retailers.

The annual awards ceremony, which was held at the historic Titanic Hotel in Liverpool, celebrated the achievements of franchisees which helped the brand to its largest ever market share amid challenging market conditions in 2018.

Cotswold Mini Cheltenham was presented with the Retailer of The Year award after demonstrating excellence across 13 separate criteria, including new car sales, used car sales, profitability and customer satisfaction.

Other categories and their winners included Vines Group for Retailer Marketing, Fairfield Mini for Aftersales and Prentice Portadown for Customer Service.

Mini UK director, David George, said: “2018 was a turbulent year for the UK automotive industry, but Mini retailers defied market conditions whilst delivering a truly outstanding experience for our customers.

“Thanks to all of this hard work, in a year in which the market contracted by almost 7 per cent , MINI grew to a record 2.8 per cent market share, the highest since the brand launched in 2001.

George added: “2019 will present a new and exciting challenge for MINI, with the brand’s first fully electric model set to be unveiled later this year.”

Andrew Hulcoop, managing director, Cotswold Group, said: “I’m delighted for the business to have won the Mini Retailer of the Year award as it is great recognition for the team and their incredible efforts. They are a great team and I’m extremely proud of them.”

The winners at Mini UK’s annual awards event were:

  • Retailer of the Year - Cotswold Cheltenham
  • Corporate Sales - Arden Group
  • Retail Sales - Cotswold Hereford
  • Used Cars - Cotswold Cheltenham
  • Customer Service - Prentice Portadown
  • Mini Countryman and Mini Clubman Sales - Cotswold Hereford
  • Financial Services - Rybrook Worcester
  • Aftersales – Fairfield
  • Marketing - Vines Group

Mini UK’s overall market share grew to a record 2.8% in 2018, despite a 1.6% decline in registrations to 67,021.

The brand said in a statement that its biggest and most versatile model, the MINI Countryman, had recorded a 25% increase in sales, year-on-year, with 14,607 registrations, due in part to the extremely strong customer demand for the Plug-in Hybrid model with 2,306 vehicles registered.

Mini Hatch saw 38,995 registrations between the 3-door Hatch and 5-door Hatch models.

The Mini Convertible was the best-selling convertible in the UK in 2018 with 5,909 vehicle registrations.