Sales and support staff at south coast based Hendy Group have been honoured for their contribution to a record year at the company’s annual sales awards.

Hendy chief executive Paul Hendy paid tribute to all the award winners at the ceremony, hosted by sports presenter Colin Murray.

Hendy, which has dealerships in Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey, Kent, and Devon, sold more than 38,900 vehicles in 2017.

It also invested heavily in its network with eight new facilities, five upgraded showrooms and the recruitment of 279 new employees taking the total to more than 1,000 members of staff.

The key Hall of Fame award was presented to Richard Reed who joined the company in 1995. Hendy said that Reed has been “instrumental in the success of the group and has worked in sales and at group level”.

Reed said: “This is the biggest honour I will ever receive in my life. I have had so much fun working at Hendy and this is just fantastic.”

There were awards for staff from across the group with particular honours for Steve Dilley and Matthew Bennett from Hendy Car Store in Exeter who both sold more than 300 cars last year.

The Portsmouth Used Car team was named team of the year, Adam Flower from Portsmouth FordStore was named newcomer of the year and Alan Pritchard was named sales manager of the year for his work at Hendy Kia in Eastleigh.

Pictured: The 200 Club with 26 staff recognised for selling more than 200 cars each