Eaton Smith: Business of the year: Looking Back
Last year Arrow Self Drive was lucky enough to win the Eaton Smith Business of The Year Award for 2017/2018.
12 months on and as we look forward to handing over the title to a new local business, we reflect on our year and how winning the award has impacted on our business.
2018 was a very exciting year for us; we celebrated our 30thanniversary, we introduced our new paperless system and after much negotiation we finally became a true family owned and family run business following a buyout of one of our founding directors. Winning Business of the Year was the icing on the cake.
We were honoured to receive the Award, especially since The Eaton Smith Business Awards are so well established and held in such high regard across Kirklees, Calderdale and Wakefield. We have always been proud to be a local Yorkshire business. Our local community is very important to us and to receive this award meant a lot to us at such a critical point in our development.
Arrow Self Drive began in 1988 with a small start up from a shed on Manchester Road. Founders Robert Hill and Chris Taylor named the company Arrow Self Drive because it began with an ‘A’ and would therefore appear first in the Yellow Pages directory; a simple marketing strategy that paid dividends in those first few years.
In 2009 James Hill took over as Managing Director of the Company and has since worked to build on his fathers legacy; streamlining internal processes, investing in staff training and attaining ISO status. Arrow Self Drive has always aimed to deliver great personal service at a fair price.
We now have over 80 employees and 2000 vehicles on our fleet, we have eight depots across Yorkshire and our operations have improved significantly. The Yellow pages no longer exists but we are still the number one people to call for vehicle hire mainly because of our Yorkshire values; straight talking, transparent and fair.
Thanks to the award from Eaton Smith we have experienced some great positive exposure at local level. Initially we had some fantastic news coverage in the local press as well as multiple mentions on social media. As we continued through the year and attended local exhibitions and networking events we were approached by many business people who came up to congratulate us on receiving the award. Our reputation for excellent customer service was enhanced and hard work rewarded.
Companies should never underestimate the power of winning such an accolade; if organised and judged correctly, as this one is, your company’s profile will be very much enhanced and elevated amongst the business community.
We would like to wish all twelve nominees the best of luck for this year’s award. Monthly winners should all be proud and shout loudly about the achievement, because it really is something to celebrate.
We would like to thank Eaton Smith once again for acknowledging Arrow Self Drive with the Business of the Year Award and for helping us further long our incredible journey; reminding us to never forget where we came from