Elite Registrations has been trading in personalised registration numbers since 1972. The company is based in Devizes, Wiltshire, UK.
Elite Registrations started life with one man, Tony Hill, buying the cherished number HTV 1 back in 1972. This registration number was on a 1946 Morris Ten which cost only £200 including the private number plate. It was thought that this vehicle registration number might be of interest to the local independent television company HTV. It wasn’t long before a 1960 Rover 100 with the registration 1 HTV came up for sale and Mr Hill quickly bought it for another £200. Although HTV declined to buy the car registrations, the purchase of these two numbers started the buying and selling of car registration numbers by Elite Registrations.
Elite Registrations has since become a house-hold name in the UK, to the extent that many people refer to personalised plates or cherished numbers as an “Elite Registration".
Since those early days, the popularity and demand for private number plates has continued to grow with about 2.87% of people in the UK now owning a personalised registration number.
Elite Registrations not only sell from their own stock, but they also sell registration numbers on behalf of clients and from Government stock.
In 1992, the owner of Elite Registrations purchased a racehorse as an advertising tool for Elite Registrations, calling the racehorse “Elite Reg”. Although this horse didn’t become a well known name in the horseracing world, this became the trigger to start Elite Racing Club.
Although these two businesses were quite different, they had several things in common. Both companies needed the ability to publish and print magazines, newsletters and catalogues quickly and effectively. This led to the acquisition and development of their own typesetting, publishing, and printing company which trades under the name of Wentrow Media Ltd and Hartley Publications Ltd.
Elite Registrations is a founder member of The Association of Personalised Registration Traders (APRT).