The Heritage Motor Centre is celebrating after winning a joint Gold Award for Regional Culture at the Heart of England Excellence in Tourism Awards. The winners of the highly coveted awards were announced last Thursday at a glittering awards ceremony at Birmingham University’s Great Hall. Hosted by Central TV presenter Bob Warman, the awards celebrate the very best in tourism from the Heart of England, an industry that contributes £6 billion a year to the West Midlands economy.

The Heritage Motor Centre is committed to preserving the region’s motor heritage and culture. The HMC houses the collections of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and contains the finest collection of British motor cars in the world. The region’s motor heritage is also actively preserved in the Trust archive which is accessible to visitors. Heritage Lottery funding has enabled the Trust to begin “Land Rover Legacy”, an exciting project which aims to make more of their collection of Land Rover and Rover material available to the public through their website and a special exhibition on the factory at Solihull.

Brian Summers, Chairman of Tourism West Midlands said, “The awards showcased the very best in the Heart of England’s tourism industry, proving yet again how important tourism is to our regional economy and offering. We are lucky in the Heart of England to be home to such a diverse range of tourism businesses and I was delighted to see a range of new and more established attractions attending, clearly demonstrating that our tourism sector isn’t standing still, but is constantly looking forward and growing”.

Julie Tew, Managing Director at the Heritage Motor Centre, said: “We are extremely proud and delighted to have won this highly coveted award. It is a wonderful achievement for my team and the Heritage Motor Centre to be recognized and rewarded at such a prestigious ceremony”.

To find out more information about the Heritage Motor Centre, please visit the website at www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk