Burrows Toyota in Barnsley held a party at its showroom to celebrate its fifth Toyota Ichiban award.

The Toyota Ichiban Award is presented annually to recognise the Toyota retailers that provide outstanding customer service. A total of 47 retailers across 32 European Countries are selected for the title annually.

Burrows Barnsley was one of three UK dealerships to be given a trophy, this year. Ron brooks Toyota, in Ilkeston, and John Roe Toyota, in Grimsby, were also recognised.

Steve Burrows, managing director of Burrows Motor Company, said: “Customer satisfaction is at the heart of everything we do.  So winning the Ichiban award for the first time in 2014 was one of the proudest moments in my career.  To be recognised for a fifth time in 2022 is an outstanding achievement by the team at Burrows Toyota in Barnsley.”

The retailer’s celebratory event took place on July 1 at its Barnsley showroom. Loyal customers, staff and their families, local charities and organisations they support, and senior managers from Toyota GB attended the event. 

During the celebration, Agustin Martin, president & managing director and head of UK operations at Toyota GB, awarded each member of the Burrows team an Ichiban pin.

He said: “Ichiban is a very prestigious award within the Toyota family, identifying the ‘best of the best’ retailers in Europe in delivering excellence in customer satisfaction.  Burrows Barnsley are one of 47 European winners this year, making this their fifth Ichiban win. 

“To win once is a great achievement; to win five times, is simply outstanding!  It was a pleasure to celebrate with the Burrows Barnsley team at their celebration event last week.  Each and every one of the team should be incredibly proud of their achievement.”

The name Ichiban is from the Japanese ‘okyakusama ichiban’, which means ‘customer first’.

Burrows Toyota Barnsley has previously won the Ichiban award in 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2014. It is the only Toyota retailer to win the award five times.

Toyota emerged as the third-ranked car retail franchise in the latest bi-annual National Franchised Dealer Association (NFDA) dealer attitude survey.

It finished behind sister brand Lexus and Kia as retailers were asked to give an ‘overall’ rating of their brand partner, attracting a score of 8.9-out-of-10.