Dennis Horton & Son Ltd was established in Washingborough, near Lincoln, by Mr Dennis Horton and his wife, Mary, in 1954. Now the third generation of the family is 'in charge'. Oliver Horton (Dennis’s grandson) is the General Manager of the Skoda site and his fiancee, Katie Freeman is the Dealer Prinicipal of the SEAT site, while Steve and Sue Horton both still director positions.
The company started off by selling petrol and carrying out maintenance and repairs on a wide variety of customers' vehicles. As Dennis gained a sound reputation in the local area for his first-class workmanship, space at the premises became a premium and, in 1960, the company relocated (just across the road) to new premises, complete with a showroom, well-equipped workshops and a petrol forecourt. In 1963, Dennis was offered the chance to become the local dealer for a relatively new-to-the-market and fairly quirky German brand, BMW. By the time four years had passed, Dennis and Steve had become tired of the weekly trek to Portsmouth for spares and the very poor manufacturer back-up provided and they relinquished the franchise. Is it not amusing how some things change?
The business continued to grow throughout the 1970s and 1980s and, in early 1990, Steve Horton happened to spot a feature on the BBC's ‘Top Gear’ programme about the new Škoda Favorit. Only a few days later, the telephone rang and Steve was offered the chance to take the Škoda franchise for the Lincoln area. As the number one Škoda joke-teller in Lincoln at the time, he was naturally cautious but, after road-testing the Favorit and giving it a thorough inspection, he was sold and the rest, as they say, is history.
As myriad customers will attest, the overall quality and reliability of the brand rocketed throughout the 1990s and the family business simply became busier and busier. In fact, despite worrying needlessly about taking the next big step, in October 2004, the dealership moved again, this time to Kingsley Road, just off the A46 bypass and off Doddington Road, a main thoroughfare to the City of Lincoln.
In 2004 as the company was planning to take the next step in their evolution, Katie Freeman was recruited in the role of Operations Manager to spearhed the ISO 9001 quality management program that was to become the core of business.
The company has continued to expand and as recognition of its immense efforts, in 2006, Dennis Horton & to Son was voted 'Skoda Retailer of the Year' out of 140 of the brand's nation-wide dealers.
To say that Dennis, Steve and Oliver have not really had much chance to look back, were they to do so, they would notice the strong building blocks and foundations laid by Dennis over half a century ago. They would perceive the changes in vehicle quality. They would wonder why they ever worried so much about making the next big step, not least because the company has taken so many enormous strides ever since that time.
Yet, Horton Skoda remains a staunchly family firm. It is deservedly proud of its successes, which have been numerous. It is as thoroughly loyal to its customer base as they have been to Horton Skoda over the years. Dealing with Horton is like dealing with a good friend.
