The Motor Ombudsman is launching its 2021 Garage Star Awards, following the success of its inaugural recognition programme last year.
Until 15 October, consumers can put forward an individual or accredited business via the nomination form on The Motor Ombudsman website (TheMotorOmbudsman.org/Awards) to win one of the eight regional trophies on offer. As part of this, customers will be asked to write a short account of how a person or organisation, such as an independent garage or car dealership, went the extra mile to assist them on one or more occasion during the past 12 months, and why they think their chosen nominee should be considered for a prize.
Last year’s event saw over 800 online customer nominations for Motor Ombudsman-accredited garages and dealerships across the UK. Cornwall-based Dukes AutoTech was crowned the first national winner.
To encompass the broad range of businesses accredited to The Motor Ombudsman’s Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI)-approved Motor Industry Codes of Practice, the 2021 Garage Star Awards sees the addition of two new Customer Service Star Awards. This will allow motorists to also nominate one of the 40 vehicle manufacturers accredited to organisation’s New Car Code, and one of the 13 businesses that are part of the Vehicle Warranty Products Code, in recognition of outstanding customer service.
The judging panel for this year’s awards counts two new members to the four-strong team. They will select a total of 11 winners in the competition from a shortlist of three entries per award compiled by The Motor Ombudsman according to pre-defined criteria.
For the Garage Star Award categories, the panel will select eight regional winners and the highly commended honours in each of these geographical areas. The national Garage Star Award trophy recipient, which can be a business or individual, will then be chosen from this pool of eight regional winners, and they will also receive a £500 voucher in recognition of their achievement.
Similarly, judges will pick the very first Customer Service Star Award winners and highly commended entries for the vehicle manufacturer and warranty provider categories from a shortlist of three nominations compiled by The Motor Ombudsman for each of these awards.
“Following the popularity and high level of engagement with our inaugural awards in 2020, we are growing the competition to allow every one of our accredited businesses to be nominated across our four Codes of Practice,” commented Bill Fennell, Chief Ombudsman and Managing Director of The Motor Ombudsman. “Therefore, as we cast the net wider in terms of eligible entries, it will be exciting to see what this year’s submissions bring in terms of the exceptional work and service delivered to customers by our accredited businesses and individuals up and down the country. We look forward to announcing the winners in a couple of months’ time, and we expect it to be a very close contest.”
