For the first time this year, the Winner of Winner at the Bradford Means Business Awards was chosen live on the night – and a family business established more than 100 years ago and still going strong today proved to be a worthy winner.

Using mobile phone technology, those attending the prestigious awards ceremony, taking place in a marquee in Bradford’s City Park for the first time this year, voted for Baildon-based motorbike dealer Allan Jefferies.

The BMW dealership received more than 27 per cent of the vote on the night. They had earlier been named Family Business of the Year.

Winner of Family Business of the Year

The live vote marked a major departure in deciding the overall winner – previous events saw all category winners and the overall Winner of Winners chosen by a judging panel. This year, the panel picked the category winners and shortlist, but those attending were asked to choose the Winner of Winners from the category winners.

And for Allan Jefferies, the knowledge that they had been chosen by an audience comprising of mostly other businesses made that honour all the sweeter.

Louise Jefferies, head of business for the firm, said: “We were absolutely amazed and delighted to be voted the Overall Winners.  To win the Family Business Award was fantastic, but to be voted overall winner by our peers was sensational!

“To be recognised by our peers, was outstanding. The competition was fierce and we were truly amazed to win; the Winner of Winners award was definitely the icing on the cake!”

The heritage and the family values enshrined in Allan Jefferies as a business undoubtedly made it a favourite with both the judges and the guests attending on the night, and for Louise this has been a vital part of the firm’s ethos.

“We think that the continuity of the family being involved in the business is tremendously important,” she said.

“It gives the company a credibility factor which cannot be bought and allows the customer to understand that we, the family, believe in the company, the services we provide and the product we sell.”

She puts the continued and ongoing success of Allan Jefferies down to one thing.  “Without doubt, the reason for our success over the last 100 years is our passion for motorcycling. All members of the family have been motorcycle riders and Allan, Tony, Nick, and David have been successfully involved in motorcycle sport at international level. I’m an extremely competent motorcycle rider and takes part in the tours and track days that we organise.

“Joseph Jefferies, a pioneer motorist, shows that there has been a passion for our products throughout our business from the start. A passion for what you are working with is I believe an essential ingredient. The longevity of our business goes a long way to retaining confidence with our employees, our customers and our suppliers.”

Joseph Jefferies, a picture framer by trade, founded the business well over 100 years ago.  He was quick to see a future for the horseless carriage and entered into an arrangement with like-minded friends to form the Ross Motor and Cycle Company in Shipley’s old steam tram shed near the Ross Hotel in 1901.

Joseph soon decided to found his own company and moved to premises in Saltaire Road, Shipley in 1917, where Allan Jefferies, named after his son who was born in 1905, was to remain for more than 80 years.

The identity with the family name has also been a key factor, said Louise. “We believe that having the family name above the door drives you to a position where you are prepared to go the extra mile when the chips are down. After all, we have survived two world wars and two world depressions,” she said.

Louise, who took over from her father, Tony Jefferies, 19 years ago, said the firm had changed dramatically over the years Even in the period since she took over, it has gone from around eight staff to now employing 50.

“Changing with the times is very important. Significant trade changes have been taking the Triumph franchise in the 30’s, taking on Japanese products in the 50’s and 60’s, taking the BMW franchise in 1971, building an international spare parts trade with Triumph up until the 70’s,” she said.

We have also taken opportunities with car franchises but have dropped them as soon as we found they were not working for us. Going to a solus BMW site on Otley Road was a game changer and then disposing of all the other franchises to concentrate on BMW proved to be a worthwhile move.

Changing with the times

“The most significant change was building a new state of the art site in Baildon in 2010. This coincided with an extension of models in the BMW range.”

Changing our management style to modern methods, concentrating on training and procedures, driven by Louise, and keeping the company’s operating systems in line with modern hi-tech developments has also been important.

Looking forward, Louise said the key market was the more mature rider.

“The motorcycle market, especially BMW, is for the more mature rider. This is mainly because the majority of bikes are large capacity bikes and insurance rates prohibit the younger rider.

“There is growth in the smaller capacity machines but unfortunately the systems in place for passing your test are not straight forward. Again, the more mature rider has the benefit of the “Direct Access” scheme which simplifies the procedure.

“However, changes are proposed to review the whole driving test and make it more accessible for the younger riders. The low emissions of the small capacity bikes and the inevitable progress of electric powered two wheelers will no doubt increase this sector of the market.”

Asked about any potential Brexit effects on the business and the market, she said they had changes available for if or when Brexit takes place but said it was impossible to make any accurate predictions in that area.

She said the Bradford district was an ideal location for them.

“From our point of view Bradford is well located for accessibility to the motorcycle rider. Shipley has become a little oasis of motorcycle dealers, something for which the Allan Jefferies long standing business has played a large part,” said Louise.

“Bradford has easy access to motorways and industry as well as being on the edge of the Yorkshire dales. There are lots of opportunities in the whole Bradford conurbation, and the development of the inner city is continuing to improve, which is an essential requirement for the City’s growth and respectability.”

Entries will be opening early next year for the 2020 Bradford Means Business Awards.

Watch out online and for the next edition of Bradford Means Business for more details.

And anyone interested in finding out more about sponsorship packages for the event, which is run in partnership with Bradford Council, can email bradfordmeansbusiness@localiq.co.uk or call 01274 705286.