November 2020

NEWS 6 AFTERMARKET NOVEMBER 2020 www.aftermarketonline.net New webinar from Andy Savva and VARTA The Garage Inspector Andy Savva and VARTA have teamed up for a new webinar, where the importance of the battery within the car is highlighted. In the video, Andy, who is Brand Ambassador for VARTA, talks to VARTA Technical Representative Matt King about how the battery is the heart of the car in modern vehicles, and why it's essential that technicians should test the battery whenever a vehicle is in the workshop. This is especially important coming into winter. They also discuss the free-to- access VARTA Partner Portal and how workshops can benefit from this online tool. To view the video on the Aftermarket website, go to www.aftermarketonline.net Banner takes the biscuit with ‘Snack Attack’ Banner Batteries is encouraging customers to enjoy a well-deserved break with its 2020 Snack Attack winter sales promotion, through which the company is serving up a Banner Batteries branded mug, coffee and McVitie’s Club biscuit. Banner is offering the ‘Snack Attack’ package to anyone purchasing a Banner-branded battery between 16 November 2020 and 31 January 2021. Commenting on the promotion, Banner Batteries’ UK Country Manager Lee Quinney said: “We are confident that the promotion will prove to be a refreshing sweetener throughout the working day.” Rules for garage customer disputes defined Could a radical shake-up of the adult education system in England promised by the Prime Minister result in a wider pool of talent being able to re-train as mechanics post-Coronavirus? Boris Johnson recently allocated an already- announced £2.5 billion boost to England’s National Skills Fund to the what he dubbed the "lifetime skills guarantee.” This will assure anyone over 18 access to college courses for retraining. From April 2021 those without a A-Level or equivalent qualification will be given the option of taking up for free a fully funded college course. The move, aimed at mobilising millions in low-skilled work whose jobs may disappear once the furlough ends, will make it easier for older people to change career and retrain. Previously, access to funding for training over the age of 23 has been severely limited. Speaking at Exeter College where he announced the new measures, the Prime Minister said: “We will be expanding apprenticeships, reforming the system so that unspent funds can be used more easily to support apprenticeships not just in big companies, but in the SMEs where there is so much potential for job creation.” He added: “We are short of skilled construction workers, and skilled mechanics, and skilled engineers, and we are short of hundreds of thousands of IT experts. And it is not as though the market does not require these skills. The market will pay richly.” For more on training, turn to page 52. Garages that find themselves in dispute with a customer may benefit from the publication of six golden rules for customers, defined by The Motor Ombudsman, that could help to de- escalate and conclude a dispute. The Motor Ombudsman’s six golden rules for consumers are as follows: 1. Always try to resolve the dispute directly with the business in the first instance; 2. Maintain an open and continued dialogue; 3. Work together with the business to find a solution; 4. The Motor Ombudsman can step in to help if the business is accredited; 5. Have all supporting documents to hand; 6. Make it clear and realistic in terms of the preferred outcome. Bill Fennell, Chief Ombudsman and Managing Director of The Motor Ombudsman, said: “We wanted to bring together some of the key considerations for motorists if they have a complaint. The starting point, however, is always to contact the business involved and give them a chance to resolve the issue.” www.TheMotorOmbudsman.org More mechanics to be trained via education shake-up?