On The Ramp - The Independent Automotive Garage Owners Podcast.

This episode is sponsored by Castrol and The Race Group. To learn more about Castrol Service, please visit:

 https://www.castrol.com/en_gb/united-kingdom/home.html

David Simpson left school with no qualifications, got sacked from a string of McDonald's, and ended up running a tuning network with around 800 agents and manufacturing his own DPF cleaning machines. In this episode he and Sy Harraway open up a side of the trade most garage owners never see from the inside, including how tuning files are actually bought, sold and protected, and why the incoming DPF test is going to catch out a lot of cars.

If you run a workshop, send DPFs out, or have ever wondered what is really on the ECU of the car in front of you, this one is full of practical insight.

What is covered:

Diagnosing with second-hand parts instead of chasing fault codes

How master and slave tuning tools work, and why choosing a file provider matters

Manufacturers locking down ECUs, and what happens when one gets cracked

Warranty markers and how main dealers spot a remap

The DPF MOT test and what it means for mapped-out vehicles

Putting vehicles back to stock as a revenue stream

Building a DPF cleaning machine from scratch

Running a garage at 48% gross profit with one technician and an apprentice

Timestamps:

00:00 - intro
00:30 - from the army to the boot of a bmw
05:21 - the £30 ecu approach to diagnostics
09:14 - mobile to workshop, and the moonlight flit
16:16 - selling tools, and getting stung
20:25 - seven day payment terms and lending on trust
27:47 - Castrol | The Race Group Partnership
29:00 - masters, slaves and how tuning files really work
42:20 - tuning evs and locked down ecus
54:56 - the dpf mot test and stockpiling filters
57:56 - the mdf box and the machine that leaked
1:02:50 - taking manufacturing to turkey
1:07:59 - four businesses, one workshop
1:17:08 - £120,000 spent getting work for agents
1:24:27 - outro

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https://beacons.ai/ontheramp

#ontheramp #mobilemechanic #garageowners #independentgarage #automotiveindustry #mechaniclife #ukgarages #trades #automotive #castrol #remapping #dpf #diagnostics

This episode is sponsored by Castrol and The Race Group. To learn more about Castrol Service, please visit:

https://www.castrol.com/en_gb/united-kingdom/home.html

Marc is 25 and runs Magnet Autos in Liverpool, a third generation family garage his granddad started in 1978 after accidentally buying the wrong building at auction. He came into the business straight out of school after six months at home, took over in October 2023 when his dad stepped back to care for his granddad, and was made managing director just under two years later. Turnover has roughly doubled in three years.

Tim Guidotti joins Alex on co-hosting duty for the first time, so there is a proper fleet conversation in here too: fleet versus retail margins, auto authorisation on the platforms, high spend reviews and de-fleeting, and why six technicians can run on one service advisor.

If you run an independent garage or you are heading into a family business handover, this one is honest about the parts that go wrong as well as the parts that work.

Topics covered:
Coming into the family business out of school and starting in the back office
How Magnet bought its way into fleet in 2004
Taking over in October 2023 when his dad stepped back
Going from mate to boss, and the hire he regrets letting go
Turning away the busy fools and £4,000 to £5,000 a week of turnover
Fleet versus retail: margins, authorisation and high spend reviews
Splitting workshop control from the front desk
The five year plan, ramps, and why he is not opening a second site

Timestamps:
00:00 - intro
01:44 - leaving school and the six months at home
07:29 - how magnet got into fleet in 2004
13:15 - the dip and taking over in October 2023
19:18 - the sultan of brunei cars
23:06 - Castrol | The Race Group Partnership
24:26 - the setup, the staff and buying the wrong building
33:02 - fleet versus retail margins and authorisation
39:15 - the numbers and turning away the busy fools
46:27 - becoming managing director
52:46 - the five year plan and adding ramps
59:36 - outro

Subscribe for more expert insight, honest conversation, and real stories from inside the independent garage sector.

https://beacons.ai/ontheramp

#garageowners #independentgarage #automotiveindustry #mechaniclife #ukgarages #trades #automotive #castrol #fleet #familybusiness #ontheramp

This episode is sponsored by Castrol and The Race Group. To learn more about Castrol Service, please visit: https://www.castrol.com/en_gb/united-kingdom/home.html

Sophie Lyden works alongside her dad at Westgate Tyres in Morecambe. Three depots on one street, 40 to 50 cars a day, and no booking system for tyres. She's also better known across the trade as The Tyre Lady, and became the person the BBC called when they wanted a tyre expert. She joins us to talk about how both of those things happened.

If you run a garage or sell tyres, this one's full of practical insight, and a decent argument that safety messaging is the best marketing you're not doing.

In this episode:
- Why Westgate doesn't take bookings for tyres, and how they cope with 40 to 50 cars a day
- The stock strategy behind their biggest tyre month
- TPMS, valve service kits, and the conversation most garages skip
- Why she checks dot codes on every car and advises at 3mm
- The crash outside the garage that started The Tyre Lady
- What road safety conferences never talk about
- How a LinkedIn post about a bad tyre reached 200,000 people
- Getting a tyre onto the BBC Breakfast sofa
- What she'd change about the MOT and the legal tread limit
- ADHD, postnatal depression, and running a business through both

Timestamps:
00:00 - intro
01:04 - how sophie ended up back in the family tyre business
09:11 - inside westgate tyres and their biggest month
18:31 - punctures, stock and what makes a tyre shop busy
24:51 - tyres or servicing, and which one she would keep
29:26 - castrol | the race group partnership
35:55 - the crash outside the garage that started the tyre lady
43:04 - road safety conferences, dot codes and the education gap
52:38 - testing tyres and keeping the tyre lady separate from westgate
60:37 - bbc breakfast and the families behind the campaign
66:46 - what she would change about the mot and the tread limit
75:07 - adhd, postnatal depression and understanding her own brain
83:40 - taking over the business and what comes next
88:05 - outro

Subscribe for more expert insight, honest conversation, and real stories from inside the independent garage sector.

https://beacons.ai/ontheramp

#ontheramp #tyres #tyresafety #garageowners #independentgarage #ukgarages #automotiveindustry #roadsafety #mechaniclife #castrol

This episode is sponsored by Castrol and The Race Group. To learn more about Castrol Service, please visit:

 https://www.castrol.com/en_gb/united-kingdom/home.html

Fleet work divides the trade. Some garages swear by it, others swear at it. In this episode, Alex and Leo are joined by Tim Guidotti, second generation owner of Ferdotti Motor Services and founder of Fleet Guy, to tackle the myths head on. Alex explains why he spent years telling garages to get rid of their fleet work, and why he now admits he was wrong. Tim breaks down good fleet vs bad fleet, the truth about labour rates, how to actually win fleet contracts, and why the data suggests retail-only garages could be facing long term decline.

If you run an independent garage and you've ever dismissed fleet work, this one's full of practical insight.

Timestamps:
00:00 - intro
01:04 - tim's story, growing up in the family business
12:34 - joining the business and doing the deal properly
21:52 - Castrol | The Race Group Partnership
23:05 - why alex was anti-fleet, and admitting he was wrong
29:32 - the coffee test, good fleet vs bad fleet
41:09 - winning fleet work and keeping it
52:25 - should your garage do fleet, and where ownership is heading
1:03:05 - the labour rate myth, utilisation and productivity
1:09:23 - why fleet guy exists, building an industry standard
1:16:36 - fleet guy live, plus tim joins as co-host

Subscribe for more expert insight, honest conversation, and real stories from inside the independent garage sector.

https://beacons.ai/ontheramp

#ontheramp #garageowners #independentgarage #fleetwork #fleetmanagement #ukgarages #automotiveindustry #mechaniclife #castrol

This episode is sponsored by Castrol and The Race Group. To learn more about Castrol Service, please visit: https://www.castrol.com/en_gb/united-kingdom/home.html

This week it's not a story episode, it's a business one. Alex and Leo sit down with business coach Phil Brookes, who has spent his career in the tyre and garage trade, from the workshop floor to training and running parts of a national group, and now coaching independent garages. We get into the stuff most owners never get taught: pricing with confidence, knowing your real numbers, front of house, recruitment and the small marginal gains that quietly add thousands to the bottom line.

If you run a garage and you have ever felt busy but not as profitable as you should be, this one is full of practical insight.

Timestamps:
00:00 - intro and why business training is undervalued
01:20 - phil's journey into the trade
07:38 - growing and selling a national tyre group
13:37 - why tyre pricing is so sensitive
17:25 - pricing with confidence and the three prices
18:50 - front of house and the restaurant lesson
26:39 - why training fails without follow-up
29:11 - marginal gains and the 1% rule
33:00 - the wheel alignment opportunity
38:27 - how much profit is really in a tyre
47:56 - leading, retention and recruitment
51:09 - knowing your numbers and the benchmarks that matter
57:29 - marketing and the garage that isn't busy enough
1:04:23 - hiq, wholesale and the real tyre margins
1:06:47 - how to get in touch with Phil

Subscribe for more expert insight, honest conversation, and real stories from inside the independent garage sector.

#ontheramp #garageowners #independentgarage #automotiveindustry #mechaniclife #automotive #castrol #businesscoaching