3 replies to this topic

[lordyoung1980]

As per the title, where are they all going? I have noticed in my area that all the specialists have all gone. After some digging I've gound out why. But no one seems to fill the void. Just wondering why that is? I know online ordering would kill off the parts side of things but in terms of work getting done for those not confident enough what happens then? Also the social side of things as it would be a hub for meet ups etc. has the scene matured enough that most of us are happy to tackle jobs on our cars? Whats going on in your part of the world in terms of local knowledge? Do you even miss them? I wasn't looking for work to be done but looking for parts and was surprised to see no one around catering to the need.

[mab01uk]

Same reason lots of local garage workshops, high street shops, pubs, etc have closed recently, (apart of course from all the Vape Shops, Turkish Barbers, Phone repair shops, Nail bars, etc). There are just not enough local customers with spare cash to spend to support & justify the high cost of overheads of running a small business with the current high business rates and taxes imposed by government, while still making a decent profit to pay the wages...

The other reason is many of the 'specialists' have retired or are near retirement age and few young people have an interest in going into such work as a career....governments have long neglected trades and apprenticeships, since Tony Blair decided to encourage all school leavers to go to University and get a degree instead....even if the degree subject would never lead to getting a worthwhile job to pay off the student loan debt at the end.

A friend of mine has just reduced the size of his garage workshop to reduce the rent overheads, due to a shortage of good skilled mechanics and work experience youngsters/ potential apprentices, a few did turn up for work for a couple of days and then went missing, never to be seen again...the work was just too hard and too dirty working on old cars..

Edited by mab01uk, Yesterday, 10:42 PM.

[68+86auto]

Along with all the issues of finding employees or customers, the legal requirements keep growing.

There is a one-man carburettor business near me. It looks like he does good work. He has been planning to retire next year which was bad enough but this week, workplace health and safety turned up. Apparently someone nearby made a complaint and now he has to install an expensive exhaust fume extraction system to continue working (I do believe it is a good idea to do so). Because of this he is now thinking of closing down much sooner.

[68+86auto]

I do also have the belief that most of these classic car businesses haven't improved their businesses like they should. They are still doing things the way they did many decades ago and that way likely wasn't good then.

 

Some of this is because we are left with the mechanics who never changed from doing minis or other classics. They weren't necessarily good mechanics back then, they just never changed and became the only ones doing the job.

Edited by 68+86auto, Today, 12:53 AM.