Another award winning result for Watts Truck and Van

A huge congratulations to Watts Truck and Van who found out last week that they’ve received two awards at the highly prestigious Commerical Motor Awards 2020 and were highly commended in a third classification. The teams collected the very well deserved ‘Sales Team of the Year’ and ‘Franchised Dealer of the Year’ Awards in a virtual ceremony and were highly commended in the ‘Aftersales and Maintenance Provider of the Year’ category.

Simon Griffin, Principal Dealer was delighted at the news. ‘I’m really pleased for the whole Watts team and that we’ve received such recognition against some strong competition. Our staff have worked really hard this year, in very difficult circumstances, to provide an excellent service to our customers and to pick up both awards, is very exciting for us all.’

John Thurston, Group Chairman, also added his congratulations. ‘This really is fantastic news, no other company was mentioned three times and for these awards to be won following the other great successes last year of winning the DAF Sword of Excellence, DAF Dealer of the Year and also Simon’s Dealer Principal of the Year from Commerical Motor is a real testament to the hard work and dedication shown by everyone across the whole business. Very well deserved, well done.’

Key highlights – Sales Team of the Year 2020 – Winner

In the last 12 months, Watts Truck and Van achieved their highest ever operating profit with the Truck Sales team contributing 20% of that total. 322 DAF trucks were registered in the year, compared to the 286 sold by Scania, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo combined. This total volume equalled an outstanding 38.2% market leading share in South Wales, which even surpassed DAF’s record of a 30.5% share nationally.

Recent high volume deals delivered include a total of 52 vehicles to the film and TV support company Facilities by ADF with a variety of challenging specifications. In addition, the team have achieved 112% of their Paccar Financial target, 144% on selling Repair & Maintenance contracts, and 100% of the DAF Connect telematics target, as well as selling 16 used trucks. 

Key highlights – Franchised Dealer of the Year 2020 – Winner

Watts Truck and Van have also achieved DAF Category AA for the fourth year running, which is the top level for a dealer based on achieving manufacturer targets set in 20 disciplines covering the whole business from quality of workmanship/MOT First Time Pass Rate in Service, to Parts Sales & Truck Sales volumes, recruitment of apprentices, Repair & Maintenance Contract Sales, Manufacturer Mystery Shop and Personnel Training Standards.

As a family business, Watts as a group is very much focused on the future in terms of investment in people and premises. Everyone has a personal training programme and clear career path in the business. At Watts Truck and Van up to 6 apprentices are taken on every year and where possible the company promotes from within to nurture talent. The new £2m site was opened in Swansea on March 1st last year when DAF Trucks MD Robin Easton presented the team with the UK Dealer of the Year award for scoring the highest number of points in the national Dealer Target Programme, and the Cardiff premises has been purchased from the landlord, so that will be the next project for development. 

The DAF Sword of Excellence for maximum points in Aftersales disciplines is also in the trophy cabinet, and the Parts team is also a previous winner of the Paccar Parts Dealer of the Year.

Key highlights – Aftersales and Maintenance Provider of the Year 2020 – Commendation 

At Watts Truck and Van customer service is key across the board, but in particular in their maintenance and aftersales care. For 3 years consecutively Watts Cardiff has achieved 100% MOT first time pass rate and the team operates to strict quality & environmental controls.

DAFaid roadside assistance is a top priority and the 2 breakdown technicians have achieved a year-to-date performance of 24 points out of 25 from the key discipline targets of Departure time within 15 minutes of job acceptance; Response Time better than or the same as the current 12 month rolling average to ensure standards do not slip; minimum 90% of jobs repaired at roadside to maximise customer delivery time; DAFaid workshop jobs to be prioritised and completed within 36 hours; and 100% availability of technicians for call-out as the number 1 priority.

Close customer communication ensures the service scheduling runs at a minimum of 95% plan to actual; over 85% of inspections are uploaded on to the DAFcheck customer portal the same day; R&M and warranty claims are submitted within 3 days; and the technician training performance ensures 100% are trained to DAF Basic Level, 70% to Intermediate, 40% Advanced together with one Master Technician leading the team of expertise.

A huge congratulations once again and good luck in their submission for “Responsible Business of the Year (SME)” with the Business In The Community (BITC) Awards which should be announced soon.

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