Posted in Minoli
25th November 2024
Headquartered in Oxfordshire, the heart of the British motor industry and home to Formula 1, it is no wonder that Minoli have longstanding links and extensive experience with the automotive industry.
Over the years we have supplied showroom and workshop tiles to over 20 manufacturer brands and their networks, plus a range of motorcycle, collector and tuning specialists, as well as providing garaging solutions for private individuals.
From prestige to popular, our clients include the sector’s top automotive brands such as Lexus, Ferrari, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Volvo, Citroën, Renault, Dacia, Alpine, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Lotus, BYD and Omoda, amongst others, as well as race teams and individual specialist resellers.

We also work closely with some of the leading customer experience, retail design and architecture practices, who specialise in working with automotive manufacturers to design new corporate identities, dealership designs and defined retail standards. These relationships have seen us partner to help deliver some of the most innovative and distinctive branded environments in the industry.
The history of Minoli and garages for the motors sector goes back beyond the incorporation of Minoli & Co in 1960, to the time when Minoli was predominantly working with terrazzo in and around London and the southeast.
Things have moved on a lot since then and technological advancements in the production of the latest porcelain tiles have seen the emergence of new ranges that can bear greater loads, are more resistant to chemicals, have improved anti-slip properties and excellent colour stability over time. The latest design directions see carefully considered combinations of concrete or stone and wood-effect tiles, incorporated to define distinct vehicle display and customer facility zones within large open-plan showrooms.

As you can imagine, where large surfaces are tiled and need to stand up to both pedestrian and four-wheeled traffic, the watchwords are quality, consistency, durability and ease of maintenance. When expertly laid on the right substrates, even large format porcelain tiles are remarkably robust and resilient to wear and tear. We also have specialist ranges, purposefully produced for use in workshop environments, and 20mm thickness, grippy, exterior grade porcelain pavers, ideal for use on forecourts, drive-in vehicle inspection areas and wash-down bays.
Whether specifying for the international deployment of a manufacturer’s new corporate scheme or a singular dealership, we tailor our products and services to our clients’ particular needs. In carefully defining bespoke showroom and workshop specifications, we help network development teams and design practices to deliver differentiated, brand-specific concepts. For both site refurbishments and new-build facilities, across widespread geographic regions, we supply throughout the UK, on a pan-European basis, or even as far afield as eastern Asia.

In order to fulfil major roll-out programs, Minoli hold vast stocks of each client’s individually specified porcelain tile selections, predominantly produced to order for each brand. This stock holding enables Minoli to work in sync with the client’s development program and ensure all orders are delivered on time and in line with the build schedule.
Minoli also operate our own fleet of trucks, vans and support vehicles, that give a daily delivery capacity in excess of 100,000 Kgs. With Minoli-employed drivers, who possess the product and client knowledge to provide a truly professional and personal service, we reliably deliver to sites throughout the Home Counties, Southern England, London and the Southeast, the Midlands and nationally through our courier partners.
For Automotive manufacturers and their design agency partners, we provide a range of services and resources to support their business needs, which include:
- Design consultations with stakeholders
- Product and technical insights
- Detailed specifications for individual sites or network-wide schemes
- Corporate identity guidelines for tiling products and layouts
- Client meeting facilities in Oxford and central London
- Sample selection and supply for stakeholder engagement
- Stockholding for bespoke schemes
- Rapid delivery from our Oxford Warehouse or direct from production partners
- Professional, uniformed, Minoli-employed delivery drivers in purpose-built, branded trucks
- Labelled and client branded products, packaged on palettes for ease of installation
- An expert team with decades of automotive industry experience
With a proven track record in supplying the automotive retail trade, Minoli understand the requirement to minimise the downtime of a dealership during development and to ensure deliveries are reliably completed in line with ambitious build and fit-out schedules.
Where required, we also liaise directly with retail group owners, dealership management, contractors and tile fitters on behalf of the manufacturer brands, to ensure scheme fidelity across diverse networks.
Minoli has a specialist automotive team headed up by Managing Director, Jonathon Minoli, who would be delighted to explore how we may be of service to new clients in the sector. Please contact him directly by email to jonathon@minoli.co.uk to arrange a time to discuss suitable ranges and specifications for showroom, workshop and customer hospitality areas.