Spalding business claims customer service accolade

A Spalding business is celebrating after achieving national recognition for its customer service.

The accident and repair body centre, part of Volkswagen retailer Crowsons, received 98 per cent in an annual customer satisfaction survey, commissioned by Volkswagen UK Group.

The approved Volkswagen repair centre on Cresswell Close in Pinchbeck, beat 185 other Volkswagen Accident Repair Centre’s to gain the title.

Volkswagen closely monitors its retailers ensuring that all areas of the business are performing according to its high standards and targets. Scores are collated throughout the year culminating in an annual result.

Crowsons highly experienced team, led by workshop manager, Jonathan Larham and technicians Phil Van-Der-Weyden, Chris Studd and Dave Freemen, collectively bring over 40 years of expertise to the business.

Jordan Crowson, Marketing Manager at Crowsons said: “We are truly delighted to have received this accolade from Volkswagen UK Group Limited.

“It is credit to the team’s consistent hard work that we have achieved this title and it confirms our commitment to meet our customers’ needs, to ensure their vehicles are repaired to the highest possible standard.”

Crowsons Accident Repair Centre has been established in South Lincolnshire since 1987 undertaking all aspects of accident damage, windscreen repairs and replacements, small dents and scratches as well as 4-wheel alignment.

Crowsons offer a personal service to help and guide customers through vehicle repair. Crowsons is proud to be the approved and recognised repairer in the area for Volkswagen Passenger Car and Commercial Vehicles, Audi, Land Rover, Skoda, Mitsubishi and Seat.

For more information about their services call 01775 760930 and for their personal accident management service, visit www.crowson.volkswagen.co.uk or www.crowsons-spalding.co.uk.

STUDENTS GET SUPPORT FROM CAR RETAILER

A Haywards Heath car retailer has teamed up with a sixth form college to give students a taste of the real-life business world.

Caffyns Volkswagen has linked up with Haywards Heath Sixth Form College to provide BTEC Business Studies students with an insight into the business operations within the automotive industry.

In addition, Caffyns Volkswagen Haywards Heath has sponsored the college’s enrichment event, E2010, by providing a vehicle for licensed students to develop their driving skills.

Course co-ordinator for business at Haywards Heath Sixth Form College, Selene Edwards, said: “We are delighted to be working with Caffyns and are very grateful for their sponsorship.

“It is thanks to businesses like Caffyns who help provide our students with a valuable insight into real-life business scenarios.”

A total of 16 students from the two-year BTEC National Certificate in Business will visit the Volkswagen car retailer and spend time with key individuals understanding a typical days operations.

Brand manager at Caffyns Volkswagen, Mark Dunn, added: “As a local business we feel it’s important to help support our future generation of workers.

“The partnership with Haywards Heath Sixth Form College enables Caffyns to play an important role in local education and provide school leavers the opportunity to escape the classroom and learn real life skills.”

Nottingham Volkswagen step onto the crease with Chris Read

Nottingham Volkswagen is stepping onto the crease with an England International wicket keeper after securing a new sponsorship agreement.

England and Nottingham player, Chris Read, will swing into action this season after Nottingham Volkswagen confirmed its support for the County’s captain.

For the 2010 season, Nottingham Volkswagen will be sponsoring the sporting stars cricket bat.

Brand manager at Nottingham Volkswagen, Declan Oglesby, said: “It is a huge privilege to sponsor Chris . He is a superb talent and an ideal role model for up-and-coming sporting talent.

“We would like to wish Chris all the best in the County Championships and congratulate him on the successes he has achieved at local and national level.”

Read was named player of the year 2009 for Nottingham County Cricket Club after amassing 1203 Championship runs. Read inherited Nottingham’s captaincy in 2008.

Nottingham County Cricket Club are currently top of the LV= County Championship leader board and have had four successive victories in the Championship so far, a feat not achieved since 1922.

Gordon to flash the champagne after winning HiQ award

Gordon Shedden has already guaranteed himself a bottle of bubbly ahead of the latest round of Dunlop British Touring Car Championship action, after being crowned as HiQ’s Champagne Moment winner.

The popular Scot polled hundreds of votes since his star turn at Croft before the mid-season break, when he secured race wins to put him third in the driver standings.

It is the first time Gordon has won the accolade, after narrowly missing out on several occasions in 2008, and he will now go into this weekend’s action at Snetterton with renewed optimism.

He polled 44 per cent of the vote, beating Andrew Jordan (25 per cent) and Steven Kane (9 per cent).

Gordon admitted his surprise at winning the HiQ Champagne Moment, and thought it was usually kept on ice for rival Jason Plato.

He said: “I don’t normally win awards like this so it is very nice to receive this recognition from so many fans. I get a massive buzz from being behind the wheel and I consider myself as one of the luckiest guys alive to be racing in this series.

“To win the HiQ Champagne Moment just makes things even sweeter and I look forward to getting my hands on the bubbly!”

David Arneil, of Falkirk, was picked at random to present Gordon with his bottle of champagne and will also win a bottle for himself, as well as a grid walk and a pair of complimentary weekend race passes.

HiQ’s marketing manager Geraldine McGovern said: “We thought the champagne moment award would be between Gordon and Andrew, and so it proved.

“The only thing we were surprised at was the fact that Gordon hasn’t won a champagne moment before now. He’s not only a popular driver, but an extremely talented one and we wish him well at Snetterton this weekend.”

Football fans give Johnstone's Paint the ultimate endorsement!

Johnstone’s Paint’s ‘outstanding’ football sponsorship has received the ultimate endorsement, with thousands of fans identifying Johnstone’s as the second most recognisable brand associated with The Football League.

Following an extensive online survey, Johnstone’s boasted a significant uplift in sponsorship awareness across all supporters – with 47 per cent citing the brand as one of The Football League’s official partners compared to 35 per cent in 2008.

And to further underline the strength of the commercial involvement, the figure rose to 58 per cent when League 1 and League 2 clubs were asked.

The Football League Supporters Survey 2010 is a compilation of the views of 36,822 supporters of all 72 Football League clubs. Modern online survey methods were employed to engage fan opinion on a wide range of questions, including sponsorship awareness.

One of key areas the survey sought to measure was the performance being delivered by sponsorship and supporters were asked to identify brands that were associated with The Football League.

In a huge coup for the brand, Johnstone’s Paint made the biggest jump in awareness, with more people associating the name with being an official partner of the Football League.

The Football League survey states: ‘Johnstone’s Paint made the biggest jump in awareness. This is a significant sign that carefully targeted sponsorship can create outstanding returns in terms of brand awareness.’

The 2010 survey took place between December 2009 and January 2010. The information gathered was shared with the clubs who each received a report detailing the views expressed by their own supporters in order to develop a shared best practice culture.

It represents a continuation of the process begun back in 2006 and repeated in 2008, updating the findings of two and four seasons ago, remaining a genuine fan consultation about the current state of the game.

Sponsorship manager Teresa Hardwick said: “This is fantastic news for the Johnstone’s brand and further confirms that our investment in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy sponsorship is continuing to produce outstanding returns in terms of brand awareness.”

Volkswagen proud to attend bakewell show

A Volkswagen Van Centre is celebrating its return to Derbyshire's premier agricultural & horticultural show after being absent for fifteen years.


Imperial Commercials Van Centre is delighted to be attending the Bakewell Show this week (August 4th and 5th) and is looking forward to welcoming visitors to its brand new Volkswagen stand.


The Ashbourne Road van centre will display a range Volkswagen lifestyle and commercial vehicles for show goers to closely inspect.


In addition, a team of commercial vehicles specialists will be on hand each day to provide advice and information on the Imperial Commercials range.


Matt Lawrenson, Regional Director of Imperial Commercials said: “We are very proud to be attending the 180th Bakewell Show with our new Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle brand.


“It is a great opportunity to meet people from the surrounding community and continue to build our presence in the area. We hope the event will be a great success.”

HiQ announce half year results

The HiQ fast fit network has pinpointed its partnership led franchise structure as a major factor behind its ongoing success, after revealing its half year business results.

Year-on-year turnover like for like has risen by more than 7 per cent, while gross profit increased by a double digit figure for the same period.

In addition, the network’s 145 centres welcomed more than 8% additional customers.

HiQ’s retail director Juergen Titz said the impressive performance was testament to the living partnerships between HiQ and their network of franchisees.

He said: “The results are a welcome boost for everyone associated with HiQ, and represent a show of strength as we continue to perform very strongly in the market.

“These results continue to prove that our entrepreneurial approach, coupled with a franchise concept, is working well.”

Recent market data shows a flat tyre sell out market compared to 2009, while HiQ has increased its percentage of sales by more than 5 per cent. More of our customers are buying more tyres.

Juergen added: “We are seeing some noteworthy successes in the expansion of the network, and continue to support our business partners in a number of ways to help them achieve their goals.

“These half year business results tell us that we are succeeding in many ways, but we have another 6 months of work ahead and we must retain our focus.”

“We have a spirit and dynamism around everything we do, which is important. We have new partners on board and we will continue to aggressively expand the network in 2010 and beyond.

“Each franchisee must exploit the vast range of support that we have to offer through our create demand programme. Local heroes at each centre, coupled with our strong national retail brand, will make the difference.”