July/August 2020

before the lockdown. I’m a MOT tester myself, so basically I have jumped from the managerial role back to MOT tester. As far as I see it, I will just cover the MOTs for the next six months, until they bring it back to life.” Deliberate Next, we spoke to Julia Kirton from Nene Jag Specialists, based in Peterborough. The business first opened its doors in 1993, and is owned and run by Julia and her husband Clive. We asked her what the story had been for them: “When they first announced the lockdown in March, there was a moment of panic, where we wondered what we were going to do about it, whether we should shut or whether we should carry on being open. “When we sat down to deliberate it, we thought about the fact that we are only a small set-up, just myself and my husband Clive here, and we recently took on an apprentice. That meant it was a lot easier for us to manage perhaps than some of the bigger garages who have more cars in and have more staff to consider. We had a chat with the apprentice and asked him whether he was happy to continue coming in, or whether he wanted us to furlough him. He spoke to his family and he agreed he would like to carry on working. He is in the workshop, and doesn’t have any contact with any customers or anything. Effectively, me and Clive are only going backwards and forwards from work to home really. “We put in all the sanitation methods with all the cars, when they come in and before they go out, having as little contact as possible with customers. Because we only have a few cars in a day, we could socially distance quite well from customers.” Advantage We wondered if being a one-marque specialist was an advantage or disadvantage in the current situation: “It has been an advantage, in that we are able to control it a little bit better. One big disadvantage we had was that our main supplier was our local Jaguar dealer, who had actually shut the doors before the lockdown. That was a bit of a blow, but luckily they gave us a bit of notice so we were able to buy-in stock I thought we would need. It has been a bit of a challenge to work around. We have then managed to find other dealers that are open, and they can sell us parts. It would take a bit longer and we wouldn’t get the discount, but that is an option if we need it. “That led into one of the important reasons for us staying open. With the local Jaguar dealers being closed, we would be the only one in the area with Jaguar dedicated equipment. That could be a vital service for someone who needed an urgent repair. We felt it was important that there be somewhere that people could turn to if in need of specialist knowledge, experience and equipment.” On workflow, Julia observed: “About 40% of the work we had booked in was cancelled. We deal with the older end of the population really, and a lot of them are self-isolating for quite a few months. “We have had a few guilt trips about if we should be open or not, but we have helped out quite a few key workers as well. The way we look at it, we are helping people do their essential travel. We deal with a lot of people that are still working, and we have helped sort out quite a few problems, so that has been good. Essential On the ratio of new versus old customers, Julia commented: “We are mainly seeing existing customers. However, about 20% of those coming in have been new customers, all essential repairs, from an inability to open boot to access battery, to large coolant loss to restricted performance issues. We have also seen a rise in phone/email enquiries from new and existing customers wanting advice and guidance. That’s great, and we are pleased that we have been able to help them. “We have been pleasantly surprised that customers are not being frivolous. They are only ringing up about essential things. People on the whole are being sensible about what they want doing to their cars. “At the moment, we are open all day every day for our usual hours, but we are constantly reviewing it. We are taking it week by week. We are booked up for next week, not so much the week after, but then we have work in for the week after that. So we are monitoring it week by week, but we are doing our normal hours.“ Support Like many businesses in the same situation, Nene Nene Jag Specialists are finding their way in an unfamiliar new world, but no garage is an island, and everyone needs support. Julia listed the online groups she is accessing to help her understand the new normal: “We are mainly with The Garage Inspector group via Andy Savva. I’ve been on his courses so I find that really valuable. Also, there is the Automotive Support Group, with contributions from; Andrew Crook, James Dillon, David Massey, Tom Denton and Andy Savva. That has been really valuable as well. Especially at the beginning, with all the grants and the finance, I was trying to soak all that up as I wasn’t quite sure what we might need. “With social media you have to be careful, as you can read too much sometimes, but these groups have definitely been good for information and general support really. It reminds you that you are not alone.” Julia added: “With all this though, we are still about 50% down on last year and so this is going to be a tough year for us and the industry in general. Whether garages have stayed open or closed, it would have been a considered and difficult decision for each one of them. There is no right or wrong in this situation. We continue to monitor our situation on a weekly basis and if we feel that the situation is hard to manage or becoming too risky then we would have to revaluate our decision.” 10 AFTERMARKET JULY/AUGUST 2020 BIG ISSUE Below: Nene Jag Specialists www.aftermarketonline.net “Whether garages have stayed open or closed, there is no right or wrong in this situation” ”