Spotlight 10 A reported record attendance marks a successful UK Garage & Bodyshop Event Garage owners, technicians and bodyshop professionals descended on the NEC Birmingham early in June as UK Garage & Bodyshop Event attracted what organisers described as its biggest attendance to date. According to organisers, 6,098 visitors attended the 2026 exhibition – an 18% increase on the previous event – with more than 200 exhibitors showcasing the latest workshop equipment, diagnostic tools, replacement parts and business solutions. Away from the exhibition floor, the seminar programme tackled many of the issues currently shaping the aftermarket. SERMI featured prominently, giving garages practical guidance on secure access to manufacturer repair information, while other sessions explored Right to Repair, access to vehicle data, the future of MOT testing and the skills needed to support increasingly complex vehicle technologies. The event also highlighted the industry’s commitment to attracting new talent, with organisers reporting that more than 250 students attended through the official Student Programme to learn about career opportunities across the automotive aftermarket. Joanne Knowles, Event Director at Messe Frankfurt UK, said the event reflected “the strength, expertise and ambition of the UK aftermarket”, adding that bringing together suppliers, technicians, workshop owners and industry leaders created opportunities for collaboration and knowledge-sharing that could not be replicated elsewhere. The opening day concluded with the Automechanika Birmingham Garage Awards, hosted by the Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF), which celebrated some of the UK’s leading independent garages and aftermarket professionals. Among the evening’s winners, Uckfield Motor Services was named Garage of the Year, while EAC Telford collected the Multi-Site Garage and Best Marketing Garage awards. Cleevely Motors secured the Single-Site Garage title, Brian Hale of Mechtronic was recognised as Auto-Mechanik of the Year, and Jacob Patterson received the Young Mechanik award. Darren Knight of Mike Knight Autos Birmingham was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contribution to the industry. IAAF Chief Executive Mark Field said the record number and quality of entries demonstrated the professionalism and innovation that exists throughout the independent. The exhibition’s organisers also reported strong exhibitor engagement, saying that 78% of exhibition space for the next UK Garage & Bodyshop Event in 2028 had already been reserved. Before then, the sector will reconvene at Automechanika Birmingham, which returns to the NEC from 8–10 June 2027. Growing interest in ADAS calibration and advanced diagnostics was one of the clear themes to emerge from this year’s UK Garage & Bodyshop Event, backed up by reports from HELLA UK of strong engagement from independent garages looking to develop new technical capabilities and retain more high-value work in-house. The company’s headline launch was the UK debut of the Hella Gutmann CSC-Tool PRO, a nextgeneration ADAS calibration system that automates many of the setup and calibration processes, helping workshops complete calibrations more quickly and accurately. HELLA also demonstrated its recently launched mega macs PLUS diagnostic platform, which provides advanced multi-brand diagnostics within a Windows-based tablet environment, alongside its established mega macs S 20 and mega macs X systems. Visitors were also introduced to macsRemote Services, enabling garages to access specialist remote coding and programming support on a pay-as-you-go basis. Julian Goulding, Head of Garage Equipment at Hella Gutmann, said the strong interest in the CSC-Tool PRO reflected the growing demand for practical solutions that make ADAS calibration faster, simpler and more accessible for independent workshops. The level of engagement throughout the show suggests that technologies once viewed as specialist are rapidly becoming mainstream investments as independent garages look to keep pace with increasingly complex vehicles. HELLA showcases new ADAS and diagnostic technology
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ0NzM=