Aftermarket December/January 2023

MONTH 2017 AFTERMARKET 3 www.aftermarketonline.net Top Garage application form as part of the process. Semi-Final – Online: Friday 26 May – Monday 10 July Those who made it through to the Semi-Final will be required to answer a number of open questions focused on staff training and development, as well as investment. Final – Saturday 14 October This will be held at Delphi Technologies in Warwick. Each finalist business will be interviewed by the judges. The winners for the various Top Garage groups will be named at the Top Technician and Top Garage Awards Evening 2023, being held at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel in Coventry. As with Top Technician, to enter, go to www.aftermarketonline.net and click on the Top Technician/Top Garage tab. Then click on the “enter here” tab. Then follow the instructions. Benefits There is so much you can gain from taking part in Top Technician and Top Garage. Looking first at Top Technician, if you are a mechanic, and you want to see how your skills match up with your contemporaries, there is no better way. You will also learn as you go, and if you keep re- entering every year, you may find that you do a little better each year, moving a bit further along through the competition, finding yourself in the second round, then the third round, then maybe even the semi- final. Who knows – perhaps you will even end up a finalist, and suddenly you are Top Technician. When you do win, your life can change greatly. Maybe you will get offered a fantastic job you never expected. Alternatively, the win could give your garage business an added level of exposure and publicity. Speaking of garages, for those workshops that take part in Top Garage, the benefits are two-fold. Working through the online element of the competition, and then taking part in Top Garage’s finals where you face the judges can help you focus on what you are good at, and where your business needs improvement. If you do make it to the finals, you receive recognition, which you can use in your marketing locally, giving your garage that much-needed edge over your local competition. Taking part in Top Garage, or even better winning, can provide a unique selling point that is hard to match. Why not ask those who have won how it has impacted on them? Leeds- based A&J Fleetcare was the winner in the 1-3 employees category in Top Garage 2022. The business is owned and run by husband and wife team Alan and Jeanette Landale. She said: “Winning is amazing, unbelievable in fact. I’m so proud of us. The business has been going for 19 years, and this is the first award we have ever won, so it is very special.” Meanwhile, Colchester-based Shaikly Motor Company was the multi-site business winner for 2022. Owner Michael Shaikly observed: “Everybody here is in the top 1% of the industry, and we're happy to be part of it and are absolutely ecstatic being nominated as winners.” Martyn Langbridge owner at Cheltenham & Gloucester Autocentre, winner in in the 6-10 staff class in Top Garage 2019, said: “It is the way we differentiate ourselves from others around here that like to do the same job. I was hoping we would win, but was not sure we could come out on top with the level of garages also taking part." Declan McCormack is the eponymous owner of Declan McCormack Vehicle Repairs, winner in the 1-5 staff class in Top Garage 2019. He observed: “Top Garage is the only way I can benchmark myself. With customers, they’ll usually let you know if you have done something wrong. If you do things right though, you are never going to know about it. The problem is you can get into doing something and unless somebody tells you it is wrong, you will just carry on doing it. That's why it is quite nice to go to Top Garage." Aaron Phillips MD at, Jackson & Phillips Automotive Services, winner in the 10-plus staff members class in Top Garage 2021 added: “With Top Garage, I wanted to see where we are in comparison to other garages. That is why the Awards Evening was brilliant, as I got to speak to so many different people in so many different situations and I was able to talk to them about what we are doing, and what they are doing.” Now you have heard from all these winners, what are you waiting for. Sign up today! Top Technician and Top Garage 2023 come to you in association with the Garage Equipment Association (GEA), the Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF) and the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), and is sponsored by TOPDON. For more from some of the winners from Top Technician and Top Garage, turn to pages 36-37 DECEMBER/JANUARY 20 3 AFTERMARKET 19