May 2021

Completed MOT Tests 2019 March 220 | April 161 | May 186 2020 March 152 | April 0 | May 149 2021 March 285 | April 42 | May 144 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 March April May MOT Data 2019 2021 Reminders A s I write this on 23 March 2021, one year on from the first ever nationwide lockdown announced by Boris Johnson, I’m reflecting on the huge and inconceivable changes we’ve had to make as a country, as a business, as an employer and of course personally. Who would have believed that three weeks of lockdown would, for some, continue into more than 12 months. Although some garages remained open for business during those early days, we at Anderson Clark Motor Repairs decided to close down for those first three weeks, which then turned into seven weeks. I have to admit that the first three weeks was an easy decision. If we were to protect our staff and customers, the NHS, our community and ourselves then we had to enter into the spirit of the government request to stay at home and save lives. In the second three weeks, the full horror of the amount of deaths and the speed of contagion confirmed we had made the right decision but by week seven, with no income yet still having to honour rent, rates, HP payments and staff still receiving full wages, we decided to test the water and open up with emergency repairs. Disposable masks, gloves, steering wheel covers and seat covers, hand sanitiser in huge quantities were bought for the workshop while new plastic screens and handsfree key drop off and payment procedures put in place for our receptionists. Over the seven-week closure we had many requests through the 1link platform and also private messages for urgent repairs to delivery vehicles, as well as from electricity companies, Police Scotland and numerous hospital staff and carers. When we opened again we were inundated with work and back to full staff within a few days. Thankfully the government’s decision to allow a six-month Exemption to MOTs meant many private customers could continue to follow the lockdown rules and not worry about having an illegal vehicle on the road. However, 12 months on and looking at our MOT database with repeat business in mind, the fact of the matter is that having seven weeks of lockdown last year subsequently means we will have no repeat MOT testing for that period. The only MOT reminders we will be sending out are for newer vehicles that we maintained prior to them being three years old. We would normally send out over 40 MOT reminders by post each week and are scheduled to send out approximately six each week in April. The IV (Inverness) postcode area suffered an 85.6% drop in MOT tests during spring 2020 – dropping from 16500 tests in March down to less than 2400 in April. We are anticipating and planning for a huge shortfall in our workshop bookings during late March, all of April and early May 2021. It is not only a reduction in the volume of MOT testing, but many customers also book a service and other repair to coincide with the MOT test. That work, along with any MOT repairs gives us a current average invoice value touching £300 + VAT so is clearly a major concern. Our workforce has all agreed to take holidays during these anticipated lean Spring months which will be a huge assistance in getting through this quiet spell. All that said, we have recovered well financially and our 2020-2021 turnover has not had the 15% reduction, equal to our period of lockdown, but is very close to our budgeted figures. Graham Clark is owner at Anderson Clark Motor Repairs, an award- winning independent garage based in Inverness. 18 AFTERMARKET MAY 2021 BUSINESS www.aftermarketonline.net EXPECTED REDUCTION IN MOT BUSINESS 2021 A view from the MOT front-line from the owner of Inverness-based Anderson Clark Motor Repairs BY Graham Clark, owner, Anderson Clark Motor Repairs