HUNDREDS OF EARLY BIRDS CATCH A BREAKFAST

Two Sittingbourne businesses have joined forces to provide early morning workers with the most important meal of the day.

JCB Volkswagen Van Centre and Sittingbourne Cafe launched a temporary customer service initiative in 2009 to provide JCB’s service customers with a breakfast voucher while their vehicle was being worked on.

But after over 1,000 people utilised the ‘early bird’ service in the first 12 months, it’s now being introduced full time

Matt Rochester, aftersales manager at JCB Sittingbourne Van Centre, said: “Every month nearly 100 service customers to our St. Michael's Road site enjoy a breakfast at the Sittingbourne Cafe while they wait for work to be carried out on their vehicle.

“The phenomenal success of the ‘early bird’ initiative has taken us all by surprise and we’ve now decided to make it permanent.

“We introduced it for customers who need to be on the road or working early in the morning and we’re delighted with the positive customer feedback.”

Steve Beard, from Chatham-based Rainham Refrigeration, said: “It’s a fantastic idea and means our vans serviced without any impact on the working day.

“The food is great and we’ll be using this service every time our vehicles serviced or in for an MOT.”

Matt concluded: “JCB’s service department is open from 6am, but as the cafe opens at 7am customers are given complimentary refreshments in our waiting area until breakfast can be served.”

NEW BUSINESS WINS NATIONAL AWARD

A service team from Ashford (Kent) has been named as the best in the UK, after achieving record levels of customer satisfaction.

The team at JCB Volkswagen Van Centre came top of the UK network in quarter two 2010 and is leading the way to be named the top for 2010.

Positive feedback from customers and excellent customer loyalty figures ensured JCB secured this award, despite the van centre only opening in 2009.

JCB Ashford’s head of business, Tony DeVoil, said: “To have one of the best service teams in the UK is testament to the dedication and work ethic of service manager, Peter Hare, and his team.

“They all work hard to make sure every customer is given accurate information before, during and after their van is in the workshop.

“Peter and his team thoroughly deserve this acknowledgment as they strive to deliver total customer satisfaction. The next target is to secure the overall award for 2010.”

Volkswagen monitors the UK’s 63 van centres, ensuring all areas of each business are performing according to Volkswagen standards and targets. The scores on areas including sales and customer satisfaction are then added up to reveal quarterly and annual results.