November 2020

T hey said we’d be busy – and we are. It’s been a couple of months since the MOT exemption was concluded, not soon enough if you ask me, but better than never, and the phone has hardly stopped ringing. I wouldn’t say we are having trouble coping though. I’ve managed to keep a full complement of staff in the workshop, no one is off and even in reception Mrs P’s relentless good health continues to shame us all. Admittedly, with the contactless garage we are running, no one actually sees her. The way things are, she could be fielding calls from Fuengirola on the Costa Del Sol, getting a good dose of Vitamin D in the sunshine. No one would know. Back in the workshop itself, we are doing many, many MOTs. We are also getting the routine servicing back on- stream, as well as repairs. There are so many warning lights flashing on our customer cars that on some days if we set up a series of mirrors we could create a virtual Christmas tree. I know it’s a month too early, though the actual impediment would be the fact that there’s just not the space. There are just too many cars in the way. I guess the mirror rig will have to wait until next year. Now, being a regular reader of Aftermarket as well as its most popular and handsome contributor (what? A boy can dream can’t he?), I am also an avid reader. All those articles that discuss possible future directions for our industry, I eat those up. There was this brilliant phrase use in one piece in last month’s issue; “horizon scanning.” Apparently, that’s what us business owners need to do to keep up. In the old days, I think we just called it looking ahead. “Horizon scanning” though, just the idea of it made me feel so heroic, like Batman, a watchful guardian balefully observing a lonely and protective vigil over the city from a lofty rooftop eyrie. The only difference would be that instead of a mask and hi-tech body armour, I’d be wearing overalls with an old tea-stain on the crotch. The wind would be the same though. I know running a garage is a bit more prosaic than being a dual- identity billionaire/vigilante, but we take care of the people too, there’s just less explosions. Well, sometimes there might be a backfire, but no one’s wearing clown make-up for that. You get the idea. After all this Coronavirus stuff, and after being run off our feet, it will be a relief to think about the business from more than just a let’s-just-get-to- Christmas-and-see-where-we-are perspective. I am fairly certain we are going to be fine, but I would prefer to be planning for a better tomorrow. I do try to be a bit more managerial, but it’s all-hands-on-deck at the moment, so I am mucking in too. I am sure it is the same for many of you as well. Once we get through this glut of work, hopefully I can return to being forward-looking. As someone once said, "We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives." As for the story of the tea-stain, I’ll save that for another day. THE PARK (-IT) KNIGHT 58 AFTERMARKET NOVEMBER 2020 TEABREAK: MEMOIRS OF A MOTOR MECHANIC www.aftermarketonline.net Warning lights Watchful guardian MOT surge Super busy Bad Dog? @?!