Northside Truck & Van has won the Mercedes-Benz Trucks Dealer of the Year title for a third year in succession, thanks to high levels of performance across the business. 

Managing director Russ Hallowes stepped up to collect the trophy at the manufacturer’s annual celebration of franchisee excellence, which was staged at Liverpool’s Titanic Hotel. 

“This is a fantastic achievement, especially given the tough competition we faced from the other 16 members of the Mercedes-Benz Trucks Dealer Network,” said Hallowes. 

“It underlines yet again our unwavering commitment to the brand we represent, as well as to our colleagues and customers.” 

The award recognised another “magnificent set of results” during 2018. It was a year that also saw a change of leadership – having previously served as aftersales director, Russ Hallowes was promoted to the top job last May – but no let-up in the company’s relentless drive to provide customers with the industry’s finest service, it said. 

“The ethos at Northside is that if you do right by your people, they’ll do right by you,” said Hallowes. 

“The customer will always be number one, but so, too, are those who work for this business. Our people are our greatest asset, and experience has proved that motivated, engaged colleagues are more productive and – crucially – more likely to deliver customer satisfaction.”

In the face of a challenging market, which declined 4.3% year-on-year, Northside Truck & Van registered more than 1,100 new Mercedes-Benz and FUSO vehicles with gross weights of 7.5 tonnes or above in 2018, as well as 200 used models. 

Meanwhile, its aftersales team posted another highly impressive set of results, with workshop labour sales and parts sales up by 6% and 16% respectively.

Northside’s Service 24-hour emergency assistance technicians repaired 88% of the vehicles they attended at the roadside before sending the drivers on their way, while 96% of the trucks prepared by the dealer for an MoT test by a Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) inspector sailed through first time.  

Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ managing director Mike Belk said: “Northside is rightly proud of its admirable track record of staff retention and development. This is a business in which there is no ‘them’ and ‘us’; instead, everyone is working to achieve the same goal.

“Rather than excelling in one or two areas, the winner of our Dealer of the Year Award must be a genuine all-rounder. Not only do they consistently exceed our targets in terms of vehicle sales and aftersales performance, but our research confirms that Russ and his team also deliver outstanding customer service.

"Northside continues to be a fantastic ambassador for the Mercedes-Benz Trucks brand.” 

 

The full list of award winners was as follows:

• Truck Dealer of the Year – Northside Truck & Van
• Truck Customer Service & Parts Dealer of the Year – Ciceley Commercials
• Truck Technical Team of the Year – Sparshatts Truck & Van
• Truck Sales Dealer of the Year – Roanza Truck & Van
• Truck Sales Administration Team of the Year – Mertrux Truck & Van
• Mercedes-Benz Finance Truck Dealer of the Year – Intercounty Truck & Van
• Truck Marketing Dealer of the Year – Rygor Commercials 
• Truck Service Manager of the Year – Dave McGinnis, Ciceley Commercials
• Truck Parts Manager of the Year – Mark Bowman, Western Commercial
• Truck Service 24h Technician of the Year – Chris Atkinson, Intercounty Truck & Van
• Truck Trainer of the Year – Ben Clark, Roanza Truck & Van
• Truck Sales Leader of the Year – Ian Brown, Mertrux Truck & Van
• Truck Sales Star of the Year – Martin Kemsley, Sparshatts Truck & Van
• Used Truck Sales Star of the Year – Paul Diamond, Roanza Truck & Van

Pictured: Managing director Russ Hallowes, with trophy, and colleagues celebrate their third consecutive Mercedes-Benz Truck Dealer of the Year award