2018 What a Year

What a Year: The Carbase Big Fat Review of 2018

As the nation winds down from the Christmas festivities and recovers from over-singing Auld Lang Syne, we here at Carbase thought we would take a retrospective look at 2018... and what a year it has been!

From January through to December, we've achieved a stack of successes that we're keen to shout about. We've even created a video which captures our handpicked selection of accomplishments of the year.

Did You Recognise Our Celebrity Voices on the Radio?

January 2018 saw us launch our exciting new radio adverts across the airwaves with the help from the Heart Team, Matthew Horne and Joanna Page!

Our Weston-super-Mare Showroom Expansion

Spring marked exciting developments here at Carbase, with us proudly opening a brand new showroom at our Weston-super-Mare Store. We understand that physically visiting a showroom remains a significant and enjoyable element when shopping to buy a new used car.

With customer service top of our agenda, our new space enables us to provide an even greater experience for our customers and the chance for them to get up close and personal with their potential new set of wheels.

All About the Tech: Our New In-Store App

 

The introduction of our new In-Store-App allows customer to sit back, roam the forecourt or relax on our comfy sofas, input the registration of any of the vehicles in our fleet and scroll through all the information about that model.

Meet Rob the Bot: Our First Assistant

Motor Trader Industry Award Winners

This summer not only saw a nationwide heat wave, but a wave of prestigious industry award wins scooped by Carbase. We were over the moon to be crowned winners of the prestigious 'Most Improved Dealership of the Year' in the Motor Trader Industry Awards 2018. The prestigious awards celebrated the successes of 28 award winners, and we were one of them!

Carbase were also honoured to be shortlisted as finalists in three other categories - Used Car Retailer of the Year, Digital Initiative of the Year and the Social Media Award. Our success at the Motor Trader Industry Awards marks a fabulous achievement and is testament to the entire team's hard work and dedication, and we hope for further success at next year's ceremony.

Oh, if that wasn't enough, we were also featured in Motor Trader Magazine, who were also shouting about our award success.

Auto Trader Retailer Awards: Winners

The Awards Just Kept on Coming! 

We were crowned winners at the 2018 AutoTrader Retailer Awards, scooping the title for 'Business Initiative of the Year'. Carbase were selected from 13,500 retailers, whittled down to 1,500 shortlisted entries, then finally just six awards were dished out on the exciting night.

The awards recognise and celebrate excellence among automotive retailers as well as brands and individuals inspiring the industry and setting the bar for retailers across all sectors - go us!

Part Exchange Going to a Good Home: Team i-Vengers Assemble!

October 5th marked the day for this year's tenth anniversary annual Bangers4Ben race. Carbase crew were delighted to supply a car for one of the intrepid teams to embark on this epic four-day European adventure.

We proudly provided one of our business partners, iVendi, with a vehicle for the event, which raises funds for the automotive charity Ben. The iVendi bunch certainly got into the spirit of the event, assembling to the race as superheroes - team i-Vengers!

Find out more about the Carbase contribution to the Bangers4Ben 10th anniversary here.

Apprenticeship Success

The Carbase team was delighted to celebrate the success of Thomas Griffin for completing his Apprenticeship at our Weston-super-Mare Auto Centre. Since joining the team in October 2016, Tom has worked extremely hard and achieved his Level 3 Mechanical Apprenticeship accreditation.

If you like the sound of one day celebrating your own graduation success here at Carbase, check out our careers to find out more.

Ho Ho Ho ...

Once again, the festivities were marked in style by the team. We descended on Double Tree by Hilton's Cadbury House in Bristol to enjoy our Christmas Ball. An evening of festive fun was had by all, with the team enjoying a delicious meal, drinks, DJ and plenty of "Vogue" attempts in the photobooth!

It was a perfect opportunity for the entire Carbase team to get together and a chance to thank each and every one of our team members for their dedication and hard work throughout the year. Thank you everyone!

Going Above and Beyond for Charity

Dedicated to fundraising for Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Above and Beyond do some amazing work, and Carbase was thrilled to announce our partnership with the charity earlier last year. The team has been dedicated to raising funds throughout 2018 for this worthwhile cause through our Auto Trader Challenge and both Summer and Christmas parties.

Royal Hospital looks after over 96,000 children who come through its doors each year. The hospital boasts 14 specialist wards, including an intensive care unit and neurology ward, and looks after children from across the entire south west of England and South Wales.

The Carbase team helped to raise an impressive £4,618 for the hospital. The money we have raised so far has been used throughout the hospital for various uses, including a magic carpet for the Dolphin Ward, improvements to the Dolphin Ward playroom as well as funding arts and crafts for all hospital wards. Carbase also donated money towards the NICU department who are looking to purchase a new Bilirubin Monitor.

It Doesn't Stop There

As you can see, we've had quite an eventful year! We're so proud of our achievements and accolades and have put together a retrospective video looking back on our success. From our award wins to new starters, apprenticeship success to the launch of our new showroom, if you would like to find out more about our team or offering, contact one of our stores or visit our career page. The team is really excited for what lies ahead this year and we have BIG plans for 2019... watch this space!