Aston Barclay's Donington Park achieves EV accreditation

Auctioneer Aston Barclay has achieved Electric Vehicle Approved (EVA) accreditation for its Donington Park site, the first large UK auction centre to achieve the status.

The Electric Vehicle Approved (EVA) scheme has been developed by the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) to recognise suppliers and retailers’ excellence in the electric vehicle sector.

To achieve the accreditation, the Energy Saving Trust independently audits individual suppliers and dealerships to verify that they meet a set of standards covering EV sales and aftersales. These include the customer qualification process, staff knowledge and training and charge points on site.

Aston Barclay Midlands centre passed all elements needed to achieve the accreditation, as well as being scored as ‘best practice’ for its staff training and vehicle assessment and sales.

The audit praised the group for its ‘comprehensive set of marketing and training materials and its approach to the IMI Level 1 EV course, run by the AA, which over 160 colleagues across Aston Barclay have undertaken to date. The subsequent five sites will be looking to gain accreditation throughout 2024.

Albert Parnell, group EV lead at Aston Barclay said: “This is a significant step forward in helping Aston Barclay become the number one EV remarketing partner for automotive businesses.

“The EVA Accreditation is not just a certificate; it is a recognition of the significant efforts and investments we have made in our infrastructure, operational processes and the education and upskilling of our colleagues and partners,” he added.

The accreditation coincides with Aston Barclay appointing Radius as its partner to improve its current EV charging infrastructure across its six UK sites, as well as a centralised back-office application to review each charger’s performance.

The new charging points will be compliant with PAS:1899, to ensure the charge points are available for those with diverse accessibility needs, considering the physical environment, placement, information provision and design standards.

Parnell said: “The Radius partnership, which will improve the infrastructure across all of our sites, feels like the natural next step. We are looking forward to working with the team and utilising its expertise to provide a best-in-class experience for EV users across our sites.”