This year sees Mangoletsi, the largest authorised Alfa Romeo dealership in the UK, celebrating its 40th anniversary, a significant milestone and achievement. Four decades of passion for the Alfa Romeo brand has cemented Mangoletsi’s première position for supplying these iconic Italian cars throughout the UK, and delivering excellence of customer service.

A series of high-profile initiatives this year will consolidate all the gains that have been made during the last four decades, and will put Mangoletsi firmly on the path to an even brighter future. Further details of the programme will be announced in due course, all aspects of which have been designed to improve the dealership’s service operations and leading standards even further; while several customer-orientated events will celebrate the anniversary.

“We’re delighted to now be able to celebrate this very important milestone in our history,” says Mangoletsi’s Managing Director Fraser Hudson, who himself has been with the Knutsford, Cheshire-based firm for 22 years; and who 16 years ago became the Managing Director, going into the record books as the youngest car dealership MD in the country. In fact the ‘family’ image delivered by the dealership is clearly demonstrated in that several key members of staff are now rapidly approaching four decades of service with the firm, and there are original customers who are still buying their Alfa Romeos from us.

This year promises to build on the huge successes achieved during 2006 when the arrival in the showrooms of the “new breed” of Alfa Romeo models: the Alfa 159, 159 Sportwagon and Brera, galvanised the brand’s image in the UK and generated new levels of interest and excitement. Responding to the surge in demand was a challenge gladly taken up; and with the new Spider having just arrived at Mangoletsi to complete the quartet of new generation models, plus the roll-out of niche versions such as the Q-Tronic transmission and the new Ti trim pack, interest is bound to continue escalating in these stylish and highly accomplished cars this year.

Mangoletsi – who always have around 350 new and used cars in stock - never rest on their laurels and are always keen to be at the cutting edge of all Alfa Romeo developments with a finger on the pulse that allows them to keep their customers closely involved and to share the deep-rooted passion. In order to keep the sales sales team fully up to speed with product knowledge and developments in the pipeline, they visit Italy at least twice a year. Most recently, just a week before Christmas the team visited Alfa Romeo’s famous Balocco proving ground to test drive the new Alfa 159 Q-Tronic and the new Q2 versions of the 147 and GT. “Being able to examine the Alfa 8C Spider concept was certainly a highlight,” says Fraser, “and while there I was able to meet up with Centro Stile design team, and I can safely say that the future for Alfa Romeo is set to get better and better.”

MANGOLETSI: 1967-2007

Knutsford-based Mangoletsi is the country's longest established - and largest - Alfa Romeo and Fiat dealership. Understandably, its Managing Director, Fraser Hudson, is justly proud of the company's success, and he explains why buying the Italian brand guarantees the start of a very special love affair. "Everyone who works at Mangoletsi is passionate about the product we represent, and I think our enthusiasm is infectious, because once a customer buys an Alfa Romeo of Fiat from us, they seem to fall in love with their car," explains Fraser. “It's a joy to be working with such a premier motor manufacturer because we are able to offer a classic and sophisticated brand with a long heritage, which we know our customers love."

Many Mangoletsi customers return whenever they decide to replace their car. "We have clients who have been buying cars from us for over thirty years. I feel honored that they value and trust us," says Fraser, who believes Mangoletsi has established an enviable reputation. Fraser's top team of Ken, Roy and Nigel help him to steer the business in the right direction. "We pride ourselves on knowing the product inside-out, so the knowledge of our staff is incredible. My after-sales manager, Ken Buckley, has been with the company for 36 years, my senior deputy parts manager, Roy Jeffries, has been with is for 38 years, and my top technician, Nigel Lawton, is often consulted by the Alfa Romeo technical team in Italy.

"We've achieved a great deal over the 40 years we've been here, and we've built up an enviable reputation," adds Fraser, who is Vice Chairman of the Alfa Romeo Dealer Association, with responsibility for representing all Alfa Romeo throughout Great Britain. "We represent the UK at Alfa Romeo conferences in Italy," says Fraser. "We're often asked to get involved, and offer our opinions on certain design aspects of new models, and we get to see cars well in advance of their release dates. So it helps enormously that I know what is going on in the industry, and I'm able to steer the business in the right direction."

Charting Mangoletsi's rise to the top proved to be quite tricky for MD, Fraser Hudson, as many early records and photographs have been lost. However, after lengthy discussions with customers and motor trade colleagues Fraser has been able to piece together a potted history. "The original owners, the Mangoletsi family, were well known throughout Cheshire," says Fraser. "They used to have a showroom and garage which specialised in fine tuning Army tanks during World War II. Then they then found a niche market within the sports and racing car circuits."

In 1967, the Mangoletsi family bought a plot of land on the A50, near Knutsford, an area which had previously housed a transport café and bungalow. The site was to become the now well-known Mangoletsi dealership. Within just a year of starting their Knutsford operation, the family was forced to sell the company to business partners Alan Edge and Brian Moffat who at that time owned and ran a boat building business in Chichester. They had been involved with the Mangoletsi family tuning their marine engines for some years previously. Although the Mangoletsi family was no longer a permanent presence, their name lived on.

Then, in 1968, the partners made one of their most crucial business decisions; they agreed to take on the Alfa Romeo franchise in October. At the time, Alfa Romeo was an unknown entity in the UK - but thanks to Edge and Moffat - and later of course, to Fraser Hudson - Mangoletsi helped put the Italian brand on the UK map. "The company experimented with a range of franchise options at first - at one time, they sold Ferrari and Jaguar cars, at another they concentrated on Mercedes," says Fraser.
 

But once they started selling Alfa Romeos, Mangoletsi's name became known throughout Cheshire as the leading motor dealership for the premier Italian brand. It was in 1985 that Fraser agreed to work for Mangoletsi. Then a 20-year-old Rolls Royce and Ferrari salesman at Strattons, in Wilmslow, Fraser had big business ideas and endless energy. He wanted to start out on his own - but Alan and Brain persuaded him to give Mangoletsi a try, instead. "I remember Fraser as being very energetic," says Alan. "He was full of what I call practical enthusiasm. He was looking for more than just a job, he was looking for a future - and I knew Mangoletsi could offer him that."

Fraser certainly proved to be a lifeline for the business, completely turning around its fortunes. "I didn't have many days off in those days, and I had a lot of energy!" says Fraser. But it was his belief in the cars he was selling, that really cemented the company's future. Such was his commitment, and his resolve that Mangoletsi was at the start of a brilliant future, that Fraser bought shares in the company in 1990 and later that year, on September 1, was appointed Managing Director. "At that time, I was only 25 and I was the youngest MD of a car dealership in the country," explains Fraser, who recently became the sole owner of Mangoletsi some years later.

In 1993, soon after Fiat took over Alfa Romeo, Fraser agreed to take on the Fiat franchise at Mangoletsi, knocking down a bungalow that was at the site and building a brand new Fiat showroom with additional offices and parts and sales facilities above, "It made sound commercial sense for me to do it," explains Fraser. The decision had a dramatic impact on the company. "Our Fiat sales were tremendous," says Fraser. "In 1996, for example, we sold over 1,000 new Fiats in 12 months.

"In the last few years annual turnover has been over £20 million. "It's a phenomenal achievement really, when you consider that most dealerships have an average turnover of just £8 million. It goes to show we are a far larger organisation than most people imagine", says Fraser. “We recently increased the workshop capacity at our Knutsford premises to fourteen ramps and increased our number of courtesy cars to thirty. We also took on additional storage facilities which mean that we can carry stock of up to 350 new and used cars. Combined with an Alfa Romeo showroom which can comfortably display 8 new cars and the fantastic selection of the 300 or so used cars which we hold, it is easy to see why we have become a destination of choice for so many customers.

"We are very successful at selling used cars because our customers know that we offer superb choice, high quality preparation with a compressive warranty, and all at very keen prices. We have a full time used car buyer who will find the car that a customer wants even if it is not in stock. The after-sales treatment they receive is of just as high a standard as for new car sales," adds Fraser.

Mangoletsi has always prided itself on the high levels of service it offers to customers. And those customers are proving that good, old-fashioned service is something they appreciate, by repeatedly returning to the dealership. Italian-born Siro Conte is now driving his 20th car from Mangoletsi, having first started buying his cars from the Alfa Romeo and Fiat dealership in the late 1970s. "Siro is just one of many customers we have who have been buying their new, and used cars from us for over 20 years," explains MD Fraser Hudson. "We also pride ourselves on picking staff who are dedicated to the brand - people who are passionate about it - and our customers recognize that expertise, and welcome our guidance when buying a new car," adds Fraser.

"I'm the first to admit I know nothing about cars, but I know good service when I see it, and that's what I get here," explains Siro, of Cheadle. "I like to buy a new car every two years or so, and I've never been anywhere else, because I've never needed to." Known as the 'Mangoletsi Treatment' the customer service offered at the Knutsford dealership, is, says Siro, what attracted him to once again buy his new car there. "I think customer service is a dying art," says Siro. "These days, everyone seems to be after a bargain all the time, but I truly believe that if you find a business which looks after you, then you create a bond, and that bond pays dividends."

Eric Dodson, 80, is Mangoletsi's longest standing customer having bought a 1750 Alfa Romeo Berlina from the dealership in 1967. "It was just as they were coming out of their marine engine period" recalls Mr Dodson. "I remember saying to the then sales manager that he did not have to work too hard with me, I was a soft touch because I would always buy an Alfa!" Eric, who recently took delivery of a new Alfa Romeo 147, believes it is the high levels of service that keeps him returning to Mangoletsi. "I have been very satisfied with the good service I get at Mangoletsi and that is the reason I keep going back, Living as I do in Stockport it would probably be easier to visit a more local dealership but it is the good will that Mangoletsi has built up with me over the years that has made sure I remain their customer."

Thirty years after Eric bought his first car from Mangoletsi, John Saunders, a publisher from Liverpool, commenced his own longstanding relationship with the Cheshire dealership. "I have bought several Alfa Romeos from Mangoletsi during the past decade and am currently driving an Alfa 156," says John. "Because the dealership has been established for such a long time, I find that the staff there share a vast amount of specialist and in-depth knowledge about the Alfa brand.

"This reassures me that I am buying from people who really know what they are talking about," he adds. John is so confident with the service he gets at Mangoletsi there was only one place to go when his wife Angela needed a new car! She now drives an Alfa 147 and his father has recently taken delivery of his fourth car from Mangoletsi.

Mangoletsi is in fact no stranger to developing lasting relationships with whole families. Bill Banner, his wife Beryl and his three children, Andrew, Alex and Julie, all own fiat cars purchased at the Knutsford dealership. "It was in about 1993 when we first discovered Mangoletsi, we were actually on our way to a garden centre when we came across the garage and discovered they sold Fiats," says Bill, a retired ICI workshop manager. "Seriously though, fourteen years is a long time to stay with one dealership but at Mangoletsi they never take you for granted. I mean how many dealerships invite you to pop in for a cup of coffee when you are passing! "We have always had great service at Mangoletsi, they have often gone out of their way to help us," Bill adds. For more information please visit www.mangoletsi.com