CHARITABLE causes will benefit by £10m following a decision by car dealer Sir Peter Vardy to sell two million of his shares in the Reg Vardy motor group.

The continuing success of the business has recently led to calls for greater access to shares in the business.

But with the value of shares climbing, few shareholders are keen to sell, and calls were mounting for chief executive Sir Peter to take action to maintain investor interest in the company.

On Thursday, he sold two million shares at 500p each. He still owns nearly 12 million shares and just over two million non-beneficial interest shares belonging to the Vardy Foundation - together they constitute a 23.7 per cent share in the company.

Reg Vardy yesterday said the money would be available for use by the Vardy Foundation, the charitable trust of the Vardy family which has given millions of pounds to good causes.

A spokeswoman said: "Proceeds from the sale are going to be available for the foundation and the causes it supports."

High on the charity shopping list will be the £2m needed for the next of Sir Peter's prized city academies.

He revealed yesterday that Doncaster will be the next location for a super-school, to complement facilities in Gateshead and Middlesbrough.

The schools caused a national controversy, with allegations that a religious emphasis was placed on its teaching.

Reg Vardy Group also announced yesterday that it had started what it believed was the biggest ever customer satisfaction survey by a motor retailer.

The group has appointed specialist customer satisfaction management company iSKY to record customer reactions.

Feedback from every customer who buys a car from one of the group's 78 dealerships nationwide and half of all those customers who have their car serviced are being monitored under the ExCEED (Exceeding Customer Expectations Every Day) programme.

The long-term investment, worth about £1m a year, will establish a standard score for customer service across the group and a performance target against which every dealership will be measured.

Sir Peter said: "Maintaining complete customer satisfaction is a constantly moving target - today's customer delight is tomorrow's expectation."