Dealers urged to join Backing Ben campaign

Ben, the automotive industry charity, is appealing for more retailers to join its Dealers Backing Ben campaign as it seeks to boost funds linked to used car disposals.

The scheme encourages dealers to donate £1 from the sale proceeds of each car sold at auction, with donations facilitated by participating auction houses.

The charity, which operates Fleets Backing Ben for the fleet disposal sector, has also recently expanded its Backing Ben initiative to cover dealer based finance and warranty sales and is hoping to sign up fast fit operators to cover tyre sales.

Ben estimates that around 25% of vehicles sold through auction contribute to Dealers Backing Ben but admitted its penetration of the UK’s top 150 dealers is low as the scheme approaches its third anniversary in May.

“We have 25 groups participating at the moment, including six of the top 10 groups, and we’re in discussions with a number of others,” said Nigel William, Ben’s commercial manager.

The charity is aiming to increase revenues generated from all the Backing Ben initiatives from £220,000 to £300,000 a year.

“There’s around one million cars sold through auction each year so there is plenty of scope to address the shortfall,” he said.

A recent marketing campaign saw Beadles, Ryland and Pentagon sign up as well as Phoenix, the scheme’s first Scottish group. High profile dealer groups already enrolled in the scheme include Marshall, Lookers, Sytner and Ford Retail.

Click here for information on how to join the scheme.

Meanwhile, Ben has been awarded a star rating in the 2013 Sunday Times survey of Top 100 Best Not-For-Profit Organisations to Work For.

“This is a strong endorsement of our efforts to always consider our dual role as a charity. Supporting our industry colleagues and their dependents in times of need is paramount but can only be achieved if we also recognise the importance of our own staff welfare and development,” said David Main, Ben’s chief executive.