T H White Motor Group wins Green Dealer of the Year 2014

April 15, 2014

The Motor Trader Industry Award for Green Dealer of the Year 2014 has been awarded to T H White, recognising its achievement in developing its Fiat Brand Centre in Swindon, one of the most environmentally-friendly vehicle dealerships in the UK.

The acclaimed awards ceremony took place at The Grosvenor House Hotel on 9th July 2014, celebrating best practice and outstanding achievements in the car retailing industry. Managing Director of T H White, David Scott was on hand to receive the prestigious award, at the gala dinner, which is one of the most important nights in the retail motor industry calendar.

The Green Dealer of the Year Award, sponsored by Black Horse, acknowledges and rewards environmental best practice in the UK motor trade. A panel of judges, made up of industry professionals and a roving judge who interviewed the team at T H White, were looking for car dealers who make a significant effort to run an environmentally-friendly site, together with evidence of successful initiatives and programmes promoting green practice.

The Swindon-based T H White Fiat Group Brand Centre represents Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Fiat Professional, Abarth, Jeep and Chrysler, and is recognised as one of the most eco-friendly dealerships in the country, featuring a range of green, money-saving technologies, which were designed and built into the two-acre purpose-built site. The Green Dealer of the Year accolade follows the building achieving an ‘A’ Energy Performance Asset Rating, which has also been recommended for a Certified Project with a score rating of ‘very good’ with BREEAM, the world’s foremost environmental assessment method and rating system for buildings.
A raft of eco-friendly technologies are used throughout the Centre, including a Rain Water Harvesting System with a rain-catching roof that provides water for car washing, toilet flushing and irrigation, with a Water Recycling System incorporated into its design. This Water Recovery System is reducing mains water consumption by over 85%. The Centre also boasts LED Lighting, a Waste Engine Oil Heating System, Air Source Heat Pumps and an extensive Solar PV System fitted by the Energy Division at T H White. The Centre uses 75% of the Solar PV energy generated with the surplus passed back to the grid.

David Scott, Managing Director of T H White, said “We are delighted to have been awarded Green Dealer of the Year at the Motor Trader Industry Awards. To win such a prestigious award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the T H White team behind this important project.” The award is particularly special to T H White, whose Energy Division supplied and fitted the Solar PV panels on the front and the roof of the showroom, which provide energy for heat, light and power. The Solar PV System also features a web-connected system that enables its performance to be monitored in real-time remotely from the T H White’s Head Office in Devizes. The Vehicle and Energy Divisions worked closely together on the development, ensuring that their combination of skills were used to fully benefit the project, something that T H White is very proud of.

Dealer Development Director of Fiat Group Automobiles UK, Tim Head, said: ‘We are delighted that T H White has been awarded Green Dealer of the Year. This well-deserved award recognises the success of a site that was developed with environmental-friendly credentials at its core, and the dedication of the team behind the Fiat Group Brand Centre, which has enjoyed a successful first year in business representing all six FGA brands.”

“It’s fantastic for our site to be recognised as one of the most environmentally-friendly dealerships in the UK”, added Peter James, Dealer Principal at T H White Fiat Group Brand Centre. “This award celebrates a great end to our first year of trading and we’re looking forward to welcoming even more customers to our Centre during what we hope will be an equally successful second year in business.”

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