12:15 pm, July 14, 2026
Behind every successful dealership is a great DMS.
The best systems help dealers save time, improve efficiency and keep every department working together seamlessly.
Taking the win for a second year in succession is a platform built specifically for modern automotive retailing and one that continues to impress dealers across the country – DealerKit.
Founder Lee Shayler said the victory was particularly satisfying because of the pressure that comes with defending a title.
‘It feels amazing,’ he told Car Dealer after learning of the win.
‘We were really anticipating it as well. You know, when there’s a bit of pressure on when you win something once and there’s that pressure on to do it again.
‘I was really nervous. When the answer came, we’re actually on our away week that we do together as a team. We found out the day we got there, which was really nice. So the whole team was there and they were really happy.’
Shayler believes DealerKit’s success comes down to the people behind the business, many of whom have extensive experience in the motor trade.
‘We’ve got a really unique bunch of people,’ he said.
‘Most of them are all from the trade and have had quite major jobs. Whether they’ve been at big franchise main dealers and running the show, or if they’ve been at car supermarkets and things like that.
‘We’ve got a really good mix of people and a mix of ideas and they all bring their own things to it.’
DealerKit has enjoyed rapid growth over the past year, with Shayler revealing that both the team and customer base have doubled since the company last won the award.
‘We’ve doubled the size of the team since our last award and we’ve doubled the size of our dealer base now as well,’ he said.
‘So we’re twice the size as we were when we spoke last time at Car Dealer Power 2025.’
Despite that expansion, Shayler said maintaining service levels remains the company’s biggest priority.
He said of his team: ‘I think from the moment we make contact with a customer through to the onboarding, they’ve got a lot of passion for it to the point where we’ve got to kind of tell them, guys, after six o’clock, put your phones down because they’re always talking to customers and they always want to get back to someone!
‘They’re so infused by it and they’ve got so much passion to be the best.’
Looking ahead, DealerKit plans to continue growing at the same pace while increasing engagement with existing customers through events and a new ambassador programme.
‘We want to try to keep growing at the same rate,’ said Shayler.
‘We’ve probably got a couple of the largest supermarkets in the UK using DealerKit now, which is great.
‘But we don’t forget where we started and where we came from.
‘We’ve got an ambassador scheme coming for our current dealers where we’ll get good ideas from them and invite them to events.’
He added that artificial intelligence is opening up new opportunities for the business.
‘AI is really opening many other doors for us to explore different avenues that weren’t even possible a year ago.’
Thanking dealers for their support, Shayler added: ‘A really big thank you to all of our dealers and everyone that voted because obviously without them, we’re not a DMS system.
‘We’ll try our best to make sure that we keep the service up for the foreseeable future.’
- W: dealerkit.com
- T: 020 8132 3702
