Tour blog 16

Tour blog 16

02 Nov 2008

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Aftermarket On Tour notches up its 60th garage as part of its BEN fundriaising trip

Saturday 1st November . . .

3:00pm – After a scenic drive along Hadrian’s wall, it’s time to say hello to one of the earliest supporters of our trip, Mr Paul Robbie (pictured right) who very kindly donated £50 towards BEN in support of our trip. A really generous gesture from a truly friendly and generous guy.


Paul Robbie at Paul Robbie Motor Services in Hexham
This is another one of those garages where a visit leaves you feeling like you’ve stumbled on buried treasure.
It’s a small place that an estate agent would probably politely refer to as having ‘renovation potential’ or ‘great opportunities for DIY’.

However, inside it’s a cosy grotto of diagnostic curiosities. Every wall is neatly hung with tools and consumable trinkets.

Paul is busy installing hands-free phone kits on a car when we come in. He says phone installation work has really picked up lately, along with business that would normally have gone to dealer workshops.

“We really push the BER message in the local trade because obviously we want the local business,” says Paul.
“We’ve noticed more and more people who’ve had services at dealers coming to us with lists of stuff that needs doing and looking for quotes.”

It quickly becomes clear that Paul is one of those people that would probably work in a workshop even if he didn’t get paid. “I’m car through and through,” he says. “If you cut me, I’ll bleed engine oil,” he jokes.

Paul keeps up to date with technology thanks to the technical bulletin service from Aftermarket writer and diagnostic specialist James Dillon.

Paul says that after being one of the few local independents to invest in training and diagnostic kit five years ago, he is now starting to really see the benefits.

“There used to be a mentality that if a garage couldn’t fix a problem, they didn’t want anyone else to get the work. But that’s totally gone now,” he says.

He explains that he gets a lot of jobs referred to him from garages that haven’t kept up with technology as heavily and now feel like there’s an impossible technical and investment barrier to overcome.

The back of Paul’s workshop is scattered with gifts from customers that have been so impressed with the work him or his colleague David Batey have done that they’ve gone and splashed out on a present for him.

I know that I’m in no position to judge the technical quality of repair work or the quality of someone's business operation but Paul’s another brilliant example of the advantages and benefits the independent sector can potentially offer customers; genuinely personal and friendly service that’s more than a bland corporate handshake; true craftsmanship that comes from having a personal stake in the successful outcome of a repair; and a broad and up-to-the-minute technical knowledge that’s based on understanding and not just following instructions.

Well, that’s what I reckon anyway. Of course there are disadvantages to this business approach so feel free to disagree. Customers are free to make their choices and the proof will be in the pudding – or should that be end-of-year profit figures.

Paul takes us round the back his workshop where he’s got a beautiful old Anglia parked up waiting for an MOT.

He says that if the owner of his workshop (that he rents the property from) would sell it he’d buy it, demolish it and rebuild it back from the road so he could offer customers better parking facilities.

For now, people that can’t park on the street outside have to sneak a space at the funeral directors next door!
Another great workshop technician down and it’s back on the road. Thanks for a great reception and for supporting BEN.


ATS Euromaster in Hexham
We dash round the corner from Paul’s to chalk up our 60th garage of the trip so far. On our way out, we pass a Lotus dealer with the brilliantly quaint name ‘Hexham Horseless Carriages’.

I guess the business was set up a good few years ago. My how times have changed. Now it’s just a drive through the countryside towards Scotland. After a week on the road in our Renault van, we change the air freshener.

Out goes Forest Fresh and in comes Spice. I wonder if the people that make these things have ever really been in a forest?
I’ve definitely never been to a woodland environment that smells quite so much like the inside of a freshly bleached toilet.

Thanks for a great five days to all the workshops we’ve visited in England. Here comes Scotland.

Tom and Simon

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