Aftermarket February 2023

W e last visited Erme Valley Autos in Ermington, just outside Ivybridge in deepest Devon in 2018, after Andrew West had been a semi-finalist in Top Technician that year. Fast-forward to 2022, after a few more semi-final and final appearances, and he is now the reigning champion. Perseverance pays off you see. While he has appeared in six finals overall, even he could not tell you exactly how many times he has entered Top Technician. You might expect things to have not changed much in this rural corner of the country, and in many ways you are right. Erme Valley Autos and its small team of four, including Andrew and his son Joe and apprentice David are in the workshop, and they still see a lot of 4x4s in general, and Land Rovers in particular. Andrew’s wife Sarah is still dealing with the business side of things, and they are still on the same site, which includes their home and the garage, that they have been on since 1993. Change However, there has been a slight shift. The yard outside 56 AFTERMARKET FEBRUARY 2023 GARAGE VISIT www.aftermarketonline.net Aftermarket heads down to Devon to catch up with Top Technician 2022 winner Andrew West THE WEST IS (NOW OFFICIALLY) THE BEST was full on the day we dropped by, and while there was a fair amount of Land Rovers, covering original to almost- new, it was not all typical country garage fodder: “I had two EVs in today,” said Andrew, “both Nissan Leafs. There was one that was in for a service and one on the four post that had a fault, which had been to the main dealer already before being brought here. Out of 25 cars in the yard, three today are full-electric.” While three out of 25 is probably a representative ratio in the overall car parc right now, bear in mind, this is not a town centre location. The times are changing in rural Devon as much as everywhere else, and Andrew made sure he has been changing too, by keeping up with new tech, and continuing to train. Part of this process for him was participating in Top Garage. To be the winner in Top Technician 2022, you needed to have a lot of experience working with EVs, as well as a solid grounding on the more traditional side of automotive. Luckily for him, Andrew was well-placed to win on both fronts. “We tend to be a bit delayed down here with developments,” he observed, “but with EVs it has really kept moving forward.” Ironically, country-dwellers are in many ways better set up for EV take-up than the townies: Above: Top Technician 2022, Andrew West