Awards for some of the strongest businesses in UK motor retail were a highlight of the 2023 NFDA Spring Ball last weekend, organised by the National Franchised Dealers Association.
More than 100 dealer and supplier senior executives and their partners gathered at the black tie social event at The Grove in Hertfordshire, during which NFDA chairman David Newman and host Mark Durden-Smith held a small awards ceremony.
Kia UK won trophies for Manufacturer Partner of the Year and Green Manufacturer of the Year, in recognition of both its outstanding performance in the winter 2022/23 NFDA dealer attitude survey and its achievement of the highest average score of in relation to franchisees' satisfaction with battery electric vehicle products. Kia UK chief executive Paul Philpott collected the awards.
The winner of the Industry Personality of the Year award was Sytner chief executive Darren Edwards, thanks to his work driving innovation within the industry and his work with the NFDA. Edwards was unable to attend, so Sytner HR director Melvin Rogers collected the award on his behalf.
Two Green Dealer Awards, for NFDA members with less than 10 sites and more than 10 sites, were presented to Wessex Garages managing director Chris Wiseman and TrustFord chief executive Stuart Mustoe, in recognition of their work in the Electric Vehicle Approved (EVA) scheme.
And the NFDA Chairman's Award winner, selected by David Newman, went to Gavin Forbes, group customer relations manager at Arnold Clark, in recognition of going above and beyond to support the NFDA this year.
Ian Plummer, commercial director of Auto Trader, collected the Industry Partner of the Year award for the company.
NFDA chief executive Sue Robinson said: “We look forward to hosting the NFDA Spring Ball every year, bringing many industry stakeholders together for a night of celebration. This year was another huge success, and we hope all attendees enjoyed their night. We would like to say a thank you to our sponsors this evening, as well as everyone who donated generously to support BEN, our Automotive Industry Charity.
"Finally, a huge congratulations to our award winners, your support for the NFDA and the automotive industry does not go unnoticed.”
The event's raffle raised more than £2,000 for motor industry charity Ben.
A moment of congratulations was offered to NFDA’s sister association, the National Association for Motor Auctions (NAMA), which represents motor auctions sites across the UK, for its recent achievement ofbeing awarded the coveted King’s Award for Enterprise.
NFDA also thanked the event's headline sponsor Allianz and co-sponsor Motor Industry Legal Services (MILS).
An award-winning journalist and editor, with two decades of experience covering the motor retail industry, and accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) plus the National Council for the Training of Journalist (NCTJ)
As editor of AM since 2016, Tim is responsible for its media content, planning and production across AM's multiple channels, including the website, digital reports, webinars, social media and the editorial content of AM's events, Automotive Management Live and the AM Awards. His focus is on interviewing senior leaders of franchised dealer groups and motor manufacturer national sales companies to examine latest developments in UK motor retail.
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