The Garage (Whitburn) in West Lothian wins The Motor Ombudsman’s National Garage Star Award
- The Garage (Whitburn) in West Lothian has been crowned the winner of The Motor Ombudsman’s 2021 National Garage Star Award
- The acclaimed independent garage on Longridge Road, Whitburn, near to Glasgow and Edinburgh, was named the winner of the Scottish regional trophy in this year’s competition by judges, before then being chosen by the panel as the overall national winner of the competition from the eight regional Garage Star Award recipients
- An unrelenting commitment to providing customers with the highest level of customer service, and charitable work in the surrounding community, was deemed worthy of both prizes presented to The Garage (Whitburn) in this year’s contest
- Nearly 1,100 customers submitted nominations for a business accredited to The Motor Ombudsman’s Motor Industry Codes of Practice, or team member within one of these organisations who they felt had gone above and beyond during the last 12 months
The Motor Ombudsman is pleased to announce that The Garage (Whitburn), the independent garage based in the town of Whitburn in West Lothian, near to Glasgow and Edinburgh, has won its 2021 National Garage Star Award. The Garage Star Awards were launched last year by the Ombudsman dedicated to the automotive sector, to recognise businesses accredited to its Motor Industry Codes of Practice for Service and Repair, and Vehicle Sales, as well as team members working within these organisations, who went above and beyond to provide an exceptional level of work and service to customers.
Nearly 1,100 nominations were received from motorists for individuals, dealerships and garages up and down the country, accounts which contained inspirational stories about the exceptional lengths that people had gone to when assisting them with a vehicle purchase, or when resolving an issue with their car. These entries submitted by customers were then whittled down to this year’s finalists by The Motor Ombudsman, a shortlist that was then passed to a panel of judges who had the task of collectively determining the eight regional trophy recipients, and which one of these would be crowned the overall winner of this year’s contest.
Facing stiff competition from two other businesses in Scotland, it was a nomination submitted for The Garage (Whitburn) that caught the attention of judges, and was deemed worthy to be the winner of the trophy for this region for the second year in a row. The entry from a customer, which explained their unrelenting commitment to providing the very highest level of customer service, the provision of vehicle maintenance classes for local motorists, and their charitable work and support of the surrounding community, which includes touring the town with Santa’s sleigh and hosting a grotto at Christmas, was then put to the judges alongside the other first placed finishers in the seven other regions of the contest.
After judges collectively evaluated the eight trophy winners on their respective merits, it was the Scottish trophy winner that emerged victorious to be crowned the 2021 National Garage Star, with the business also receiving £500 in vouchers in recognition of their outstanding achievement.
Ian Robertson, Managing Director of The Garage (Whitburn), said: “We are thrilled to be the recipient of not just one, but two trophies in the competition, and we are extremely honoured to have been crowned the National Garage Star. It is testimony to the hard work and philosophy of the entire team that they always look to go beyond the call of duty, and for the countless hours that they put in during their spare time to voluntarily help others and to carry out fantastic work in the community. We are delighted to end what has been a challenging year for our business with a celebration of this fantastic achievement, and we are extremely grateful to have our efforts recognised by our valued customers in the town and further afield.”
Bill Fennell, Chief Ombudsman and Managing Director of The Motor Ombudsman, added: “We would like to congratulate The Garage (Whitburn) on being named the National Garage Star, and for winning the Scottish region for a second time. Their desire to go the extra mile to help their customers and local community shone through in their nomination, and clearly stood out for all judges when pitted against the competition. We are very proud that they are a part of our nationwide accredited network, and we look forward to seeing some more great testimonials from customers in our 2022 Garage Star Awards. In the meantime, we hope that Ian and his team enjoy the celebrations as we approach the festive season.”
The eight regional winners of the 2021 Garage Star Awards were named as:
- North: Westmoor MOT Centre in Newcastle Upon Tyne (Tyne and Wear), for going the extra mile to source a spare part for the customer’s electric vehicle, and for taking the time to keep the customer fully informed as to the work needed on their car;
- South: Crown Honda Bushey Heath in Bushey (Hertfordshire), for the business carrying out a thorough diagnostic to identify the issue with the customer’s vehicle at short notice, whilst providing a caring and personal approach to reassure them of their safety when using the car;
- East: Frettenham Service Station in Frettenham (Norfolk), for travelling to the customer’s location to change a flat tyre, due to them being unable to visit the garage in person;
- West: Cadley Garage in Marlborough (Wiltshire), for putting in several hours of work until the problem with the customer’s vehicle was fixed, and for keeping costs to a minimum;
- Midlands: Clarkes4Landys in Market Drayton (Shropshire), for helping a customer to source a replacement car at very short notice, enabling them to visit a family member before they passed away;
- Northern Ireland: JC Halliday & Sons in Eglinton (Londonderry), for ensuring the highest level of safety for customers during the pandemic, and for donating a significant amount of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to their local NHS Trust;
- Scotland: The Garage (Whitburn) in Whitburn (West Lothian), for their unrelenting commitment to providing customers with the highest level of customer service, for hosting vehicle maintenance classes for local motorists, and for their charitable work and support of the surrounding community;
- Wales: FRF Toyota Haverfordwest in Haverfordwest (Pembrokeshire), for providing a consistently highly level of service on every occasion that the customer visited the business, which included clear communications from the time of booking through to when repairs were conducted.
This year’s contest also saw the introduction of two new dedicated Customer Service Star Awards for the vehicle manufacturers accredited to The Motor Ombudsman’s New Car Code and for the businesses that are a part of its Vehicle Warranty Products Code. The inaugural trophies in these categories were won by Polestar Automotive and Autoguard Warranties respectively.
For more information on The Motor Ombudsman’s Garage Star Awards, visit www.TheMotorOmbudsman.org/Awards.
