Lotus Silverstone had an interesting beginning…
In the spring of 2009, the British Formula One Grand Prix was awarded to Donington Park by Formula One Management. To try to make up for the potential financial loss due to this, the BRDC (British Racing Drivers Club, owners of Silverstone Circuit) decided to look at other ways to unlock the potential in the land value.
The Porsche Experience Centre had become very popular which led the directors of Silverstone to try to create a “Motor City” which would become a hub for everything automotive, at Silverstone. The BRDC already had a long-standing relationship with Lotus Cars because they had supplied Esprit, Elise and Exige to Silverstone Circuits for use in the driving school and experience centre. This resulted in the formation of Lotus Silverstone which opened to the public on Easter of 2009 from a modest unit on the outside of the track. Lotus Silverstone was run as a part of the whole Silverstone circuit business. In 2017 the Lotus franchise was sold by the BRDC and became a private and independent company, Lotus Silverstone Ltd (LS).
Over time LS outgrew its existing premises and moved into the current home on Silverstone Park. With the addition of a larger space, Caterham was able to be included in our offering. In May 2022, exactly 5 years after expanding into 1117 Silverstone Park, LS doubled its size by moving into the adjacent unit 1118. This expansion is not over as we are actively looking into opening a branch in Milton Keynes in the not too distant future.
Lotus Silverstone offers more than you might have guessed
When we think about car retailers, we normally picture new and used car sales along with a busy workshop that carries out servicing and repairs. In addition to these physical services, Lotus Silverstone is increasing its digital footprint. Not only are we one of the first dealerships to allow safe transactions of all our products using cryptocurrency but we also run a busy webstore which has all the current Lotus merchandise options and we have just opened an online parts portal which features parts diagrams to help find the correct parts. These can be found at the following addresses: shop.lotussilverstone.co.uk and parts.lotussilverstone.co.uk
We also offer car storage and are building an area that will be dedicated to making sure all stored cars are well cared for and maintained. In addition to this, we also provide driver training on track for those who want to take their cars, and driving, to the next level. Not only can we provide professional and accredited race driver coaching but also race preparation of cars via our Silverstone hub. During 2020 (great timing!) we also started to offer cars for hire, we started initially with a group of Sevens but have added more cars since, the most recent edition is an S3 Lotus Elise.
The Team
In addition to the management team, Aimee and Robert look after both new and used car sales here at Lotus Silverstone, in addition to being Lotus experts, they can offer consignment sales where they sell your car on pre-agreed terms. Ben looks after the workshop with the support of the technician's Peter, John and Oliver. Oliver only joined the team in 2021. Rita came on board in January ‘22 to support the aftersales team and now looks after the parts department.
A normal day in the workshop at Lotus Silverstone might involve carrying out routine servicing but we have the skills and tools to carry out gearbox & engine rebuilds, and air conditioning work, we can even manage the process of repairing accident damage or project managing a restoration.
As the era of electrification starts to make us all look at cars differently, we at Lotus Silverstone are embracing the new era with new methodology and working practices that will help our customers with the transition, when they decide to make it. Over the next few years, our new facilities and products will cater for all.