Supercar dealer Tom Hartley has been awarded the prestigious Coat of Arms of South Derbyshire in a special ceremony at his car dealership.
The event, which took place this week, recognised Hartley’s personal achievement in building ‘a worldwide brand’.
The chairman of South Derbyshire district council David Muller handed over the accolade which marked the Hartley family’s contribution to the area on a ‘worldwide scale’.
Muller said: ‘This award of the Coat of Arms of South Derbyshire is given as a recognition of the achievement of the Tom Hartley brand which has given an amazing amount of exposure to South Derbyshire over many years.
‘It is with great pleasure the chief executive invites Tom Hartley to be the first entrant into the Who’s Who of South Derbyshire – so congratulations.’
Hartley welled up as he received the award and said he will ‘treasure’ it and hand it down to his family.
Hartley said: ‘This is a very special moment in my life. I’m a bit emotional.
‘When I arrived here 40 years ago in a caravan on this very plot we decided to rebuild the business that I lost as a young man and we built that business into the Hartley Estate.
‘It is undoubtedly the most famous landmark for luxury performance and classic cars and this guy beside me [son and partner Carl] is the reason why we are separate from any other company – he keeps me on the straight and narrow and takes the business to another level.
‘We have sold billions of pounds worth of cars here over 40 years. We have attracted the most famous clients, movie stars, footballers, heads of the most important companies in the world to visit here.
‘This award means so much to me and I will pass it to my son Carl and he will pass it to his sons, no doubt.
‘It will be treasured with great pride.’
Carl Hartley was also presented with a badge of honour in recognition of his contribution too.
Hartley recently gave Car Dealer Magazine a tour of his dealership for a special video, which you can watch at the top of this post.
And you can watch the Car Dealer Live interview with the supercar super salesman in the video below.
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