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a four-post MOT ramp. “We have a big flat surface behind the scissor,” said Mike, “where we do groundwork. If someone needs a coolant top-up etc, we will park it there. We are actually looking to put in a flush-mounted surface scissor lift in there. Because that would technically block access to the other three lifts we have down at the bottom end, we are going to have it flush into the floor and then we will use that for a quick pad change or quick disc change. We are not going to put anything long-term on there that is going to consume hours and stock and cars getting in and out.” The business fields a six-person team: “We have Craig and T.J, then there’s me. I also work on the cars. Then we have Adam who is an experienced mechanic, who has shifted garage to ours. Then we have O ld ideas are always the best, right? So what do you do when you are a brand-new business? We thought we would ask that question at Longton Test Centre, a brand-new garage and MOT testing business that opened its doors in June. We spoke to Mike Duncan at the garage about how the business came to be: “We used to be in the building trade, building homes from scratch. However, Craig Lazenby who is our boss has been working on cars since he was a boy with his dad. They had a pit in their garage at home, and he was able to work on cars throughout growing up. I was the plumber for those developments. Again though, growing up with my dad, I always worked on cars and had a passion for 58 AFTERMARKET NOVEMBER 2021 GARAGE VISIT www.aftermarketonline.net START AT THE BEGINNING Longton Test Centre opened in June, and Aftermarket wanted to find out how a brand new garage gets going in 2021 cars. T.J, who is Craig’s son, is the owner of the garage. Alongside his dad, he was repairing cars while he was growing up. He is an electrician, but his true passion is cars. T.J approached his dad with the suggestion of making a garage business. We then bought this unit. It was previously used for pottery.” Being in Stoke-on-Trent, that would fit, we observed. Mike continued: “We ripped everything out, completely gutted the place, redeveloped it all ourselves, as again we come from a construction background. Then we opened in June as a fully-fledged garage, with MOT capabilities.” Workshop Looking at the workshop, the garage fields a single two-poster lift, one scissor lift, a four-poster lift, and then Above: The busy workshop floor