A Decade of Dedication
From a small, non-franchised start-up team of four in 2007, to Regional Renault and Dacia Dealers with two dealerships, it’s safe to say Blackstone Motors has come a long way in the last 10 years.
Noel Stewart and Donal Waters, the dynamic duo behind Blackstone Motors opened their dealership on the Dublin road in Drogheda on October 1st 2007. Not even a year later they received the Renault franchise, just as the country entered one of the worst recessions to date. Against all odds the young company powered through the economic downturn and the small team of six was promoted to a Regional Renault Dealer for the North East in late 2010. As the company continued to thrive, they quickly outgrew their Dublin Road Dealership & relocated to their current premises in Newgrange Business Park in 2011.
In 2012 the Dacia Franchise was added to the dealership, and at this time the company employed 16 members of staff. In 2013 Blackstone Motors won their first award when they were crowned ‘National Dacia Territory of the Year’ by Renault Ireland. In 2014 the volume of business in their Aftersales Department led to Blackstone winning the ‘National Renault & Dacia After-Sales Dealer of the Year’ award. Later that year, Blackstone won the Drogheda Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award for Best Customer Service (which they went on to win again in 2015!). This was a major moment for Blackstone Motors, as they pride themselves on their excellent customer service standards.
By 2015 the company was busier than ever and the team had grown to 24 members of staff. Noel and Donal started to focus on the future expansion of the company and began looking for sites in Cavan and Dundalk. The hard work and dedication of the Blackstone Motors team was recognized on a massive scale when they won both the ‘2015 SIMI National Franchised Sales Operation Of The Year’ and the ‘2015 SIMI National Franchised Aftersales Operation of the Year’ awards. No dealership had ever won both prestigious awards at once on it’s first attempt before, so it was an incredible moment for Blackstone.
In January 2016, the SIMI Motor Statistics revealed the Renault CLIO had raced ahead in Louth and was the best selling car in 2015. Car sales rose dramatically in 2016 and Team Blackstone grew to a strong team of 30 employees. In October, Noel and Donal opened the doors of Blackstone Motors Cavan and in January 2019 opened in Dundalk.
In late 2016, Blackstone Motors Drogheda also went on to win the ‘Drogheda Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence SME Business of the Year’ award, the’ National Renault PC Dealer of the Year’ award from Renault Ireland and the ‘Renault Bank Customer Loyalty Dealer of the Year’ award - talk about a busy year!
Today, Team Blackstone is bigger than ever, with 31 employees in Drogheda, 11 in Cavan and 10 in Dundalk.. They recently became the most Google reviewed dealership in the country which is an incredible achievement. Their goal has always been to provide each customer with a high level of service and to achieve a high level of repeat business by developing a strong relationship with their customers. After such a successful first decade, who knows what the next 10 years will hold?
