VAN CENTRE BOOSTS ITS SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM

A Milton Keynes Van Centre has appointed an aftersales expert to head up its commercial vehicle servicing division.

Local man, Sean Bonner has accepted the role of aftersales manager at Wayside Volkswagen Van Centre, in Bletchley.

The 30-year-old started in the motor trade as a parts technician in 1999, before moving into general aftersales where his career quickly progressed to more senior roles.

Sean has developed his knowledge and expertise having worked within various servicing roles for leading automotive brands, before joining Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in January this year.

Delivering high standards of service and expertise for commercial vehicle customers has been a focus for Wayside since its management restructure last summer.

Speaking of his new role at Wayside Van Centre, Sean said: “I’m delighted to be part of a friendly and professional team that is dedicated to providing the best customer service.

“My initial priority is getting to know the team and understand the needs of all of our customers.”

Duncan Sands, Head of Business at Wayside Van Centre, said: “We are delighted to welcome Sean to the team and believe his enthusiasm and expertise will help strengthen business enormously.”

For more information on the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles range, visit Wayside Van Centre on Bilton Road in Bletchley, or call 01908 366300.

Sparkling finish for Wayside Van Centre

A commercial dishwasher supplier has turned to a Bletchley Volkswagen Van Centre to meet its fleet needs in a deal worth over a million pounds*.

Wayside Van Centre is celebrating its latest business win which sees dishwashing specialist, Winterhalter, convert its entire fleet of service vehicles to Volkswagen vans.

Based in Milton Keynes, Winterhalter designs and manufactures commercial dishwashing systems for the catering and hospitality industry.

Its new Volkswagen fleet consists of Transporter, Caddy Maxi and Crafter vans which will be used to provide a national network for its servicing operations.

“We operate a 96 per cent first time fix service for our customers so vehicle reliability was very important in our purchasing decision,” says Winterhalter’s Operations Director, Jason Mackay.

“As a German manufacturer we were pleased to find a German vehicle brand that could meet our standards.

“The Volkswagen range has provided us with greater flexibility as the more compact Caddy Maxi model has helped ease city commuting.

“The servicing team are very happy with the vehicle replacement programme and we have been very pleased with efficient service from the Wayside team,” he continued.

Paul Robertson, Fleet Sales Manager at Wayside Van Centre added: “The deal presently includes 47 vehicles. We are very pleased to be working with a local business and look forward to progressing our new relationship.”

For more information from the Wayside Van Centre or the new Transporter, visit http://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/van-centres/wayside/, call into the Van Centre on Bilton Road, Bletchley, or phone 01908 366300.

MK DONS CHARITY CYCLE TEAM RECEIVES BOOST

A team of cyclists from MK Dons FC has received a local boost as they make final preparations for their Lands End to John o’ Groats charity ride.

Milton Keynes-based WD-40 Company, who manufacture a range of specialist lubricants under the 3-IN-ONE brand, has joined the list of high profile supporters of the six-strong cycling team.
The company has donated a quantity of its newly launched 3-IN-ONE Bike Maintenance product to ensure all six bikes have enough lubrication and protection to help them through the 1,000 mile ride.

Starting on Sunday June 5th, the team is hoping to raise £20,000 for Help for Heroes and MK Dons Sport and Education Trust (SET). Both will receive 50% each of the total money raised.

Paul Mitchell, MK Dons’ community ambassador, said: “We’re grateful to every person or business that has made the ride possible, but especially to those based in Milton Keynes.

“The donation by 3-IN-ONE will provide the team with the essential support to keep the bikes and riders running smoothly. We feel honoured to be the first cyclists in the country to be using this product.

“The idea of a bike ride fits in with our promotion of health and fitness and with support from our sponsors hopefully we’ll be able to continue to make a real impact on people’s lives in Milton Keynes and throughout the rest of the country.”

David Whittome, head of UK marketing at WD-40 Company, said: “Supporting charities is important to us, and we’re delighted MK Dons have taken up this challenge.

“I’m sure the team will find the 3-IN-ONE Bike Maintenance product an essential part of their kit during the 1,000 miles.

The bike ride is for two very worthy charities and everyone working on the 3-IN-ONE brand wishes the team the best of luck.”

The team consists of Paul Mitchell, MK Dons Community Ambassador, Darren Oldroyd, Director of Football and Community in the SET, James Parkinson, MK Dons Head of Partnerships, John Lloyd, MK Dons Business Development Executive and Dave Pearson from Milton Keynes-based company Filmology.

To donate go to www.justgiving.com/SETH4Hbikechallenge

WINTER OLYMPIANS URGED TO SPRAY THEIR WAY TO SUCCESS

The Great British Winter Olympics team is missing out on medals because it is overlooking a simple performance enhancing, home grown ingredient, it has been claimed.

WD-40, the world’s leading multi-purpose product, is confident a spray of their blue and yellow can will lead to quicker times, and more success, for skiers, snowboarders and tobogganists.

The Milton Keynes based brand now wants GB bosses to pick up the phone and discuss a success strategy for the next games in Russia.

A spokesperson said: “The difference between success and failure in professional sport comes down to mere fractions. We believe that we have a product that can lead to better times and better results for many Winter Olympic competitors.

“We would like to offer the team a year’s supply of product to help maintain equipment and hopefully improve performance in competition.”

The brand, famous for having over 2,000 uses is also providing a list of relevant uses for winter sport athletes.

The spokesperson added: “We would welcome feedback from the British Winter Olympic team and possibly new uses for WD-40.

“With various national and international competitions in the coming months, we hope the team finds positives when testing the product.”

Winter sports uses

• Lubricates sleds and toboggans
• Cleans and protects metal buckles on snow gear
• Lubricates snowboard bindings
• Removes rust from sled runners
• Stops squeaks on ski boots
• Prevents rust from forming on ski bindings

For more information contact Richard Knowles or Zoe Guest on 01902 714 957 / 07959 200 703 or email richard@connect-group.com, zoe@connect-group.com