AAK has been serving customers in and around Whitstable since first opening in 2000. Originally founded by Tony Jahlly, the business is now headed by his son Anthony, who leads a team of 17 working out of a number of units. Anthony observed: “AAK is named after me, Anthony, Adam, my brother, and Kimberly, my sister. In 2000, you opened up the Yellow Pages and it was all in alphabetical order. Being AAK puts you at the top. We started off as AAK Tyres, then we moved into AAK Auto Services, and we got bigger. We offer such an array now that we've got AAK Paint, we've got AAK Fast Fit. We've also got AAK Auto Service, AAK Tyres, AAK Air-Con and so on.” The business is based on an industrial unit inland from the town: “We had one unit that we rented, outgrew that and realised that we needed to do MOTs. Then we bought two units, got the MOT station and some more ramps there and started adapting to that. Then I came in and joined my dad and then we bought two more units and expanded again. Then we moved our reception over here. A few years ago, we bought four more units.” 58 AFTERMARKET FEBRUARY 2024 GARAGE VISIT www.aftermarketonline.net Aftermarket drops in on Whitstable’s AAK Auto Services, the winners of the Ben Health and Wellbeing Award at Top Garage 2023 Sections Most of AAK is based in a number of connected units, with one more a short walk across the way. A single customer reception is the fixed centre from where everything flows. Anthony explained how the space is divided: “We are technically all one site, but the garage itself is split into a few different sections. We've got the fast-fit side, which has five ramps, covering brakes, suspension, tyres; Everything that can be in and out in a day. Then we've got the MOT side of it. We can have two MOTs going at the same time. Then we've got the EV bay. We’ve got the EV chargers this side, floors all done in rubber, all the insulation outside, all the special tools, all the diagnostic tools. Upstairs from there we've got a classroom for inhouse training.” The garage takes on longer-term mechanical jobs too, and these are performed in a dedicated unit. “The bigger, more labour-intensive jobs get done here. So that might be an engine change, or cylinder heads being done.” Then there is the aforementioned paint shop, which is back over with the main run of units: “I knew nothing about paint. What I've learned with doing the EV side and EVERYTHING IS A-O.K AT AAK
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