May 2021

www.aftermarketonline.net MAY 2021 AFTERMARKET 3 CONTENTS BUSINESS 8 Big issue: Recruitment 12 Julia Kirton: A great woman 14 Eurorepar: Roadmap for 2021 16 Carl Davis: Welding linked to cancer 18 Graham Clark: MOT reduction 20 Barry Babister: MOTs-post-pandemic TOP TECHNICIAN/TOP GARAGE 22 Philips: Shine a light 26 Top Garage: From the archive TECHNICAL 28 Snap-on: Can Bus 30 Frank Massey: Setting the bar high: Part 4 IN FOCUS 32 Air conditioning 38 Additives and cleaners 40 Remanufactured components 42 Tyres and tyre bay PLUS... 44 General products/Competition 46 Coronavirus round-up 50 Garage visit: All Fords 52 EVs and hybrids 54 Training update 56 Recruitment 58 Teabreak HAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW? Editor | Alex Wells alex@aftermarket.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 345 Contributors Barry Babister | Graham Clark | Damien Coleman | Carl Davis Julia Kirton | Frank Massey Sales Manager | Daniella Gavin Daniella@aftermarket.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 349 Commercial Director | Ryan Fuller ryan.fuller@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Operations Manager | Ewa Hodden ewa.hodden@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Project Liaison Manager | Emma Floyd emma.floyd@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Publishing Director | Ian Atkinson ian.atkinson@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Published by | DFA Media Ltd 192 High Street, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 1BE Alex Wells, Editor Average net circulation July 2019 to June 2020 23,616 aftermarketmagazine @aftermarket01 ISSN 2516-9149 Aftermarket is published 10 times a year and is sent free of charge to applicants meeting the publisher’s criteria. All others may subscribe at £60 per anum, £120 Europe and £150 rest of the world. While every care is taken to provide accurate information, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors or ommisions, no matter how caused. All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior consent of the publisher. The views of contributors do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher. Copyright: DFA MEDIA LTD 2021. A s I write this, non-essential retail, which importantly includes barbers and hairdressers, just reopened. I’m not rushing for my haircut because of the queues, although I have to say, I probably need one. With the earlier lockdowns I managed to accurately judge the epidermal threat level, but in December I hesitated. Big mistake. I didn’t plan to spend five months developing a hedge-head like Robert Smith, lead singer of The Cure, but here we are. The Cure have probably been getting a lot of inadvertent Google hits as result of COVID-19. Not as many as The Vaccines I’d wager, but my tresses are not quite at the neck-level of their lead singer just yet. If I’m honest, considering the colour, the best comparison would be late 90s/early 00s pop-punk bass player. I’m pretty-fly-for-an-editor-guy, know what I mean? Going back to the digital realm, that has been the way many garages have been communicating with customers over the last year. While fixing cars may be the centre of the business, getting and keeping customers is just as important. With this in mind, we have a few words on the topic from our latest graduate from The Garage Inspector Programme. Turn to pages 12-13 to hear from Nene Jag Specialists’ Julia Kirton. What else do we have? Staying on the business side, on pages 14-15, we speak to Nick Taylor from Eurorepar on how the network is looking to help businesses move forward in 2021 and beyond. Looking at the ongoing impact of the MOT Exemption, we have a from-the-frontline viewpoint provided by Graham Clark from Inverness-based garage Anderson Clark on page 18. Then, on page 20, we see the long-awaited return to Aftermarket of MOT Juice founder Barry Babister, who is looking at what the MOT will look like post- pandemic. We also have another new contributor; Carl Davis, Director at Safety Consulting Services. His first piece on page 16 looks at the dangers around welding. It’s serious stuff. On the technical side, Damien Coleman from Snap-on brings us the second part of his series on automotive communication networks. That is on page 28. Then, on page 30 Frank Massey concludes his epic examination of that Audi S3 that has been running since the start of the year, believe it or not. Speaking of epics, we have gone large on the subject of air conditioning across pages 32-37. This includes an overview on the topic, what’s in-store for A/C gases led by our cover stars National Refrigerants, as well as an in-depth look at Bosch’s offering. Following that we also have pieces dedicated to additives and cleaners, remanufactured components, and tyres and tyre bay. Add to that another installment of our now-regular look at EVs and hybrids, the unfortunately inevitable Coronavirus round-up and a competition from Launch UK, and you have what is stacking up to be another full issue. Finally, on the Top Technician and Top Garage front, we hear from Philips as to why they have chosen to support the competitions. We promised it last month, and it is here on pages 22-23. By the way, don’t forget that the deadline for entering Top Technician and Top Garage is 31 May, which gives you roughly a month from, ooh, now. Stop reading this and go and sign up!