Twells of Billinghay History

Twells of Billinghay began when Fred Twells started his original business in 1928 as a Blacksmith. He then later began repairing and modifying cars and lorries before becoming a Ford Retailer in 1938. Fred also owned several buses and transported local people around the county and became well known with his "Flying Fox" bus in which he took Billinghay Athletic FC all around Lincolnshire! Fred later moved into Haulage and building up a large fleet of 29 lorries, but was then nationalised by the government in 1954. Fred with his two sons Edward and Charles ,undeterred started up again with a Ferguson Tractor Franchise in 1957 and this carried on until the late 1960's when grandson John(our current MD) joined the family business from Grammar School.. After some five years John persuaded father Ted and uncle Charles (with his mother’s help) to move the business into car repairs/Mots and Used sar sales before being offered the British Leyland Franchise in 1972 before taking on Vauxhall in July 1980. Twells have been proud to represent the Vauxhall Brand for 40 years next year and with the new revised 2019 Contracts being awarded with together with a larger area, they look forward to many more years in partnership with Vauxhall and the PSA group.

John and Marjorie Twells are very proud of the team they have built at Twells of Billinghay over the years.

THE DIRECTORS

John Twells: (Managing Director)

John Twells is our current Retail Operator/MD and is responsible for changing the direction of Twells from Agricultural to Motors in the early 1970s. John and his wife Marjorie have won many awards and holidays from Vauxhall over the last 40 years and he is still as passionate about cars and Vauxhall as a brand as he was when the first Vauxhall cars arrived at Billinghay in June 1980. John is so very proud of his company achieving the goal of 100 years old (last year) and all of his staff for gaining nine consecutive Customer Excellence Awards from Vauxhall, and is passionate about Customer Service. John is President of South Kyme Golf Club, and has been heavily involved with this local golf club for many years. ​

​​Marjorie Twells: (Company Secretary)

Marjorie married John in 1970 and became Company Secretary two years later. Marjorie still works every morning in the Accounts department looking after credit control and various other administrative roles. Marjorie is a keen gardener and flower arranger and when she is not at work can usually be found keeping their garden in immaculate condition and spending time with grand daughter Jessica. ​

Sarah Short: (Company Accountant)

Sarah joined the Company in 2006 after attending HullUniversity and spending a few years learning the Motor Trade away from Twells. Sarah is the 4th Generation of the Twells family to work at the dealership and John and Marjorie are extremely proud to have Sarah to take the business on. Sarah has carried out several roles since coming back to Twells including Service Receptionist, Warranty Administrator and also Sales Administrator. She is now our Company Accountant. Sarah has a daughter Jessica who is 13 years old and will hopefully one day become the 5th generation of the Twells family business.

Daniel Short: (Sales Director)

Dan joined the company in 2014 and brought with him a wealth of knowledge and motor trade experience gained from 10 years with a Main Dealer group in Boston where he had worked his way up from Junior Salesman to General Sales Manager. Dan who is married to Sarah is part of our award winning Sales team along with Andrew Wells and John Dodd. ​

​​THE SALES TEAM 

Andrew Wells: (Sales Manager and Motability Specialist)

Andrew joined Twells in 1998 as a Sales consultant and was promoted to Sales Manager in 2001. Andrew has a wealth of knowledge, greater than anyone else within the dealership about all things Vauxhall. He is our “go to man” if anyone has a challenging question. Andrew has won many national Vauxhall awards including Sales Manager of the year in 2005, Andrew is also one of our Motability Specialists and is the main reason that Twells have won Motability awards in the past.. ​

​John Dodd: (New, Used Car Sales and Motability Specialist)

John joined the team from a main dealer group in Boston in 2017 having previously worked with Dan for a number of years. John has over 15 years experience in the motor trade having worked for three of the biggest car franchises in the UK.  John is our other Motability Specialist along with Andrew and is always first to arrive in the showroom each morning. ​

THE SERVICE TEAM

Tom Reeson: (Aftersales General Manager)

Tom has worked for Twells for over 20 years since he left school and has worked predominantly in the Service / Warranty Department in a number of roles. Tom is responsible for the Service and Parts Department as well as overseeing the body shop operation and is ably assisted by Michael and Gary. He is a keen Liverpool fan but we try not to hold that against him too much. Tom and his wife have twin girls who are at secondary school and have been building and racing electric cars at school making the national final in 2019 at Silverstone!. The family keep Tom very busy when not at work.

Michael Barber: (Service Manager)

Michael (Mick) has been with Twells for over 40 years and is normally the first smiley face you are greeted with when you walk into Receeption.. Michael began as a Saturday boy moving into full time in Service and then into Parts as manager before becoming our Service/Parts Manager in 2001. When Michael, isn't at work he can normally be found walking the dogs up and down the banks of the Witham, in the garden at home or by the lakes at Timberland, or doing his DIY. ​

Gary Hornby: (Parts Manager)

Gary is another” Lifer” (that is working during school holidays and then coming back to work full time later) as we like to call them here at Twells. Gary worked for us before going off to university and gaining a first in English Language and then returning to the fold on completion of his degree. Gary has spent all his time in the After sales Department and has been our Parts Manager now for around six years. Gary is also our IT expert, being technically very able, and can often be heard muttering the words "have you tried turning it off and on again" ​

With well over 100 years Vauxhall experience between them our crack team of Mechanics are always here to keep you on the road.

Peter Barber (Technician), Peter has been with us for over 15 years and joined us from a local company that closed down where he was an a HGV Mechanic for many years. He has made the transition perfectly. Peter is a real “hands on technician” where nothing is too much trouble.

Paul Davis (Technician), Paul is our Gold Standard Master Technician and has worked for Twells for over 20 years and has great expertise and experience dealing with complex and challenging problems. Paul is also a qualified MOT tester.

James Killick (Technician), James has been with us since 2014 (after finishing at Boston Tech) when he joined us as an apprentice Technician. He is now a qualified MOT tester and hides himself away in our “High Tech” Heavy Van Testing Centre in “Unit One”in nearby West Street.

Barry Scott (Technician) Barry joined us in mid 2018 after having a few years out of the Motor Trade but is enjoying being back with a local Family firm. Barry was previously a Ford Master Technician.

Eddie Smith (Technician) Eddie also joined in early 2018 and is a very experienced and willing member of the team. Nothing is too much trouble for Eddie when given any job.

Mark Steele (Technician and Bodyshop), Mark has worked for Twells for well over 30 years and he started with us in our Bodyshop and then moved on to become a Technician. Mark is our “go to man” for any electrical issues he looks after the Bodyshop and is also an MOT Tester. Mark is our Twells celebrity, being the lead singer in the very well known band the “Stolen Fridays”.

Admin and Support Staff

Teresa Harrison: Teresa looks after our Sales and Purchase ledgers and all banking and is an experienced and capable member of the accounts team. Teresa has been with us since 2016.

Jackie Groom:Jackie joined our Sales team in 2017 as our Sales Administrator and has the unenviable job of making sure the sales consultants get their paperwork correct every time!. Jackie had previously worked with Dan and John in Boston and has many years motor trade experience.

Penny Gilbert: Penny has been with us for well over 10 years and makes sure the Showroom and the rest of the Office building is always looking spick and span. Penny loves to help out wherever possible and is the first person we go to when we need a volunteer for any other job.