Swopshop - Sandicliffe's longest running sales event!

When it comes to Sandicliffes longest running sales event, Swopshop, it’s hard to miss the hype. As local customers will see from the TV, local radio, and press adverts – and from the signage covering the company’s thirteen East Midlands locations – the message is always clear: This is the chance for East Midlands’ motorists to come down and ‘swop’ their car for a better one. Including the forthcoming event – from Saturday 27^th December to Sunday 4^th January – Sandicliffe will have run their now famous ‘sale with a twist’ for the eighth year running since taking on the brand in 2007.

With over 8,000 New & Used Cars sold using the Swopshop process since it commenced first at Loughborough, it has proven to be one of the UK’s most popular car retail events. “We run various events that are well liked by our customers but when we run Swopshop, around four times more people attend,” said Nigel Faulkiner, Head of Marketing at Sandicliffe, one of the East Midlands’ most trusted car experts. “We find that there is a range of people who clearly prefer the quick process and the whitewashed prices on all our New and Used Cars. We also find one or two other retailers try to copy it but our customers tell us they prefer the real deal. Apart from abiding by the Swopshop buyers guarantee – where at least 80 per cent of all stock has to be reduced and in the sale and where we promise to give an immediate valuation before anything else happens – is the customer doesn’t buy from us, we will still promise to buy their car from them” he added.

The original name was created in 1976 by the BBC for their Saturday morning show hosted by Noel Edmunds. With the show running for six years, the word ‘Swopshop’ quickly became a household name and it was then registered as a trademark sale event assigned to Sandicliffe for them to operate. Mr Falkiner from Sandicliffe, “Because the event is so successful, we need to have the logo trademark registered so we could protect it from being copied elsewhere. Since 2007, only a few other similar events have taken place, and this means the customer can continue to visit Sandicliffe knowing they will get the real Swopshop deal”.