North East Truck & Van (NETV) enjoyed its best ever performance at Iveco's Network Finals, with more than 15 members of staff joining 100 top performers from across the network to celebrate their achievements over the past 12 months.

Staff were selected to attend based on their scores from Iveco's quarterly exam papers, which tests members of staff on a variety of issues ranging from basic technical knowledge to complex diagnostics. The event saw NETV's Blaydon service team presented with the runners-up trophy for the top service team award which was collected by Colin Davison, Service Manager.

This year's Network finals also marked the first time in the history of the programme when two members of network staff have achieved 100 per cent marks from the year's papers, with one of these titles going to NETV's very own Steve Brandford, a Parts Technician in Blaydon.

At the 2007 4ward presentation evening on 12 April 2008, which celebrates the High Achievers across the Iveco dealer network, NETV was praised as runners-up for the second year running. This strong performance marked the 7th year in a row in which NETV has consistently finished in the top five performing Iveco dealers from across the UK.

Steve Lane, 44, has been appointed Parts Director at North East Truck & Van, the UK’s largest independent commercial vehicle distributor.

Reporting directly to Sandy McDonald, Managing Director, Mr Lane brings a wealth of experience to his new role, having been Group Parts Manager for the last 5 years and a member of the NETV team since 1989. He will be responsible for a 65-strong team of staff which store, pick, order, sell and deliver parts from the company’s stock of £1.8m worth of parts.

Spread across its eight dealerships in the North and North East of England, the parts department supports NETV’s franchises with Fiat, Hino, Irisbus, Iveco, LDV and MAN ERF, and also includes an all-makes parts range and a ‘One-Stop-Shop’ product line which sells general workshop supplies ranging from washer fluid to AdBlue.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Lane explains: “Parts represents a huge element of our business, supporting the work carried out in our own dealerships but also supplying local workshops and garages with genuine manufacturer branded parts.

“In recent years we’ve expanded our parts distribution fleet to 22 dedicated vans, and I’ll be focusing on continuing to build this side of the business as we support more and more fleets,” he adds

Mr Lane will be based at the company’s flagship dealership and head office in Billingham, which is the central parts facility for the NETV network. Open 24 hours a day, the Billingham dealership can supply customers with parts even when other local factors are closed.

I am pleased to announce further significant developments in the ongoing expansion of North East Truck and Van.

In particular, this notice relates to:-

(a) The acquisition of property known as ex Evans Halshaw, Littlefair Road, Hull

(b) Agreement to purchase the business known as East Yorkshireman Trucks.

This forms part of a £3.0m investment in Hull and re-emphasises our commitment to the "south" of our current geographical spread.

Billingham-based North East Truck & Van (NETV), the largest independent commercial vehicle distributor in the UK, has appointed two new Marketing Assistants from The University of Teesside.

Tsana Chinhara and Catherine McQuillan, currently studying Accountancy & Finance and Advertising Management respectively, have both completed their second year studying and are taking a year out to gain further work experience.

Working in the sales and marketing department, Tsana and Catherine are involved in a number of special projects ranging from investigating new methods for monitoring customer satisfaction across the business, to researching web-based advertising opportunities and creating an electronic newsletter for circulation to NETV customers.

They are also actively involved in updating NETV’s database of commercial vehicle operators, which has included cleaning thousands of existing records and transferring them into a new, more advanced, software package.

Commenting on their appointment, Sandy McDonald, Managing Director of NETV, explains: “When we were looking to appoint two new Marketing Assistants we contacted the University and they were able to put us in touch with exactly the right calibre of individuals.”

“It’s turned out to be a win-win situation for all parties, as Tsana and Catherine are proving to be valuable members of the team, whilst its provided NETV - one of the largest employers in Billingham - with an opportunity to support the local University and its students,” he adds.

The right road

May 8, 2007

Anastasia Weiner, Evening Gazette

There are certain ingredients vital to achieving sustainable value creation - the corporate Nirvana. But while it's true that good governance, risk management, reputation and strategy and execution are essential, only culture and strong leadership can successfully bind them together. Nowhere is that more evident than at North East Truck and Van (NETV). It's not the impressive array of awards that the Billingham-based truck and van dealership has won..

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