The AM Awards’ auditor BDO said it was “blown away” by Arnold Clark’s clear determination to succeed and improve.

It said the evidence for this was in the “monumental change” generated by the dealer group’s ‘Think Customer’ programme. This requires all staff, customer-facing or not, to improve service levels. Each site determines its own customer service priorities through weekly meetings – supported by monthly board meetings.

Arnold Clark reported that in sales satisfaction surveys of more than 111,000 customers, 97% of respondents said they would buy their next car from the group and nearly the same amount would recommend it to a friend.

A key reason why the judges chose Arnold Clark is its restless determination to keep improving.

Home-grown initiatives include a star rating system based on customer opinions, a photo app designed to enhance the online buying process that allows up to 12 images per vehicle on the Arnold Clark website, and the ‘your car preview’ personalised video of customers’ cars in for service work, which has led to 162,847 videos being produced.

The awards judges also made special note of Arnold Clark’s commitment to fostering young talent, acknowledging its longstanding partnership with its training division, GTG, and The Prince’s Trust to provide opportunities for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. GTG provided more than 1,000 apprenticeships for these young people last year.

Shortlisted

Peter Vardy

Swansway Group

TrustFord

 

Previous winners

2015 John Clark Motor Group 

2014 Swansway Garages  

2013 Swansway Garages

 

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