Aftermarket June 2022

S ome multi-site businesses project a unified image, with every outlet using the same branding and signage. It works for some, but for others, a little more individuality enables them to work with different customer bases, leveraging local-area name recognition to offer the best service possible. Having an iconic 1980s and 1990s TV star endorsing you can’t hurt either. With this in mind, meet Mark Dressekie, owner at Woodstock Motors in Golders Green. Then, meet him again, as the newly-minted owner of nearby CB Motors, a business that was previously owned by former RMI President Colin Parlett. We could go on, but let’s get Mark to explain his little empire: “We operate on five sites in North West London. We’ve got one workshop with two ramps, and another one with a MOT bay and three ramps both operating in Golders Green. Then we have a separate bodyshop, an alloy wheel refurbishing centre, a sales site and lastly we have what we call our custom and detailing site. That’s where we do all the ceramic coatings, etc., as we do those sorts of things for the modification market. “My dad started the business in 1967 from one site, on Woodstock Avenue in Golders Green. We are still there. It’s not really our main site any more, but we call it that as it was our first one. We have a bigger site on North End Road, 58 AFTERMARKET JUNE 2022 GARAGE VISIT www.aftermarketonline.net A score of prime North West London locations and an iconic celebrity endorsement: They’ve got it all at Woodstock Motors GOING FOR GOLD and, in reality, that is now our main site. Funnily enough, I bought that site from Colin too, back in 1995. It was his bodyshop.” Double the advantage Mark is also looking towards the EV market, and is looking to use the flexibility his multi-site operation offers to his advantage: “We are refurbishing a bay in Golders Green at our CB Motors site. CB Motors is based in railway arches, so it’s easy to dedicate one section for EV repair.” This site proved to be very useful during the COVID-19 lockdown period: “I bought that site, 10 days before the pandemic hit, from Colin, who had been my friendly local competitor for many years. However, it being March 2020, just after I bought it, I promptly had to close it.” In fact, he closed all the workshops for three months: “When we did reopen, I opted to open CB Motors only. I pushed all the work from all the sites through there.” In addition to car repair, Woodstock Motors also runs Woodstock Recovery: “We have a fleet of nine tow trucks. Due to the contracts we have, that side of the business had to stay open even though there was no work. We have to provide the 24-hour service, no matter what is happening in the world, so even though the roads were dead, we had to be ready and on-call.”