TRAINED TO PERFECTION

Created to upskill the company’s contractor network and support the upskilling of the automotive aftermarket, Autotech Training reported a tenfold increase in demand for its courses last year. This demand has resulted in considerable growth in bookings for its IMIaccredited electric/hybrid vehicle training courses, with over 1,100 people EV trained throughout 2022, including delegates travelling from countries as far away as the Caribbean, Australia, the Middle East, and Africa. Midway through 2022, the company also added IMI EV Heavy Vehicle courses to its portfolio, boosting demand further.

On-site training

Located in Milton Keynes, Autotech Training’s headquarters feature a purpose-built EV Training Suite complete with an electric vehicle for hands-on learning. While a draw for delegates, the company’s success has been defined by the unique roll-out of its training courses. By conducting courses on the site of any workshop or business across the UK, Autotech Training is helping organisations make an average saving of 25% when compared to the full cost of sending employees off-site for training.

“On-site training is becoming increasingly sought after,” explains Colin Gleghorn (right), managing director of Autotech Training. “While cost saving and minimising business downtime can be a dealbreaker, delivering training to a group of employees at their place of work ensures that the same message is conveyed. Last year, 70% of the training we delivered was conducted on the premises of a garage or business, with our experienced trainers collectively travelling over 150,000 miles, delivering courses as far afield as the Shetland Islands.”

Earlier this year, Autotech Training also extended its offering to Northern Ireland with the appointment of Dasos Michaelides as head of business development for Ireland. With over 40 years of experience working within Northern Ireland’s automotive industry, Dasos will head up the roll-out of electric/hybrid courses across the region.

Challenges solved

However, EV training hasn’t just been restricted to the automotive industry. Autotech Training’s flexible offering has created awareness across other sectors, with major contracts in place with EV production facilities, vehicle refurb companies, local authorities, and the emergency services.

Over the last year, demand for upskilling has increased, with all areas of Autotech Training seeing an uplift. During 2022, over 200 MOT managers were trained, while Automotive Air Con Refrigerant and Handling courses remained popular, with the training of hundreds of vehicle technicians and delivery of over 50 IRTEC, REACT and ADAS courses. While the skills shortage continues to deepen across the industry and the pool of available talent depletes, vehicle evolution has continued apace. For example, there’s little doubt that technology has transformed mobility, but this is causing challenges for the aftermarket as connectivity is leaving them exposed, particularly the independents who don’t have vehicle manufacturers above them passing down mandatory training. Without the knowledge to create robust digital defences, garages are running the risk of cybercrime, which could make them fall foul of insurance companies. Technology should also be harnessed to streamline processes and monitor data. The DVSA is already utilising the power of tech to crack down on MOT fraud, and this needs to be filtered through to the testing stations to ensure they have the skills and technology available to process MOT data. The digital tools are available; they just need to be implemented correctly, and training will support this.

Staying one step ahead

There is little doubt that the sector has changed beyond all recognition, particularly for people who have worked within it for decades. The required level of skill has massively evolved, and the risks have grown tenfold. As a result, Autotech Training will continue to enhance its offering to support the industry and create courses which will help those working within the sector stay one step ahead.

For more information, go to www.autotechtraining.co.uk

How have you grown the business since you first started?

We’re now up to seven staff and offer the full range, including servicing, tyres and body repairs, all the way up to complete engine rebuilds. We started off with one of the farm’s buildings and now it’s six times the size of that. We kept doubling the size and space over a period of time, and now have nine ramps, which are always full.

What was the biggest challenge you’ve faced?

Convincing people that I could do the job and getting people to take you seriously as a new starter. I was fortunate because a local estate agent gave me the opportunity to fix his company’s cars, and because he was so well-known, it wasn’t long before lots of other people were coming to me. After that, the next hurdle was getting people to understand that you weren’t going to be cheap, but you’d do a great job. I’ve always been honest and told people how much things cost – no one ever leaves here with a bill they don’t know about. We don’t start anything until we’ve got all of the details nailed down.

What have been the biggest successes?

Obviously, having a thriving business with a raft of happy customers counts for a lot. I don’t really measure success in a financial way. Success is how people view you and I’ve always been sensitive to people’s opinion of me – especially in this business, which is often portrayed in a bad light. I’ve worked hard to change that image and like to think that I’ve made a difference.

What is the importance of being an OESAA garage?

Part of what I’m interested in is attracting youngsters into the industry, because it can offer a great career. We talk to Delphi, Bosch and lots of Tier One OEM suppliers and they always ask what’s happening to the motor trade, because there’s no one coming into it. That’s partly why OESAA exists, because it creates a platform for youngsters to interact with the likes of Brembo, Delphi and Bosch. For those suppliers, if you talk to these young people, you instil a level of knowledge and understanding about their brands, so they are more likely to use, for example, Brembo components.

You’ve made more connections to the community through football. How’s that working out?

We give a free MOT away to a random car that’s parked in the car park as part of our marketing efforts. We all love football here: I’m a Birmingham City supporter and my colleagues in the office are Aston Villa, so there’s not much mutual ground. But we sponsor Solihull Moors, which is a local club looking to get out of the National League. We meet customers and potential customers around the ground and interact with people that we wouldn’t normally interact with. It’s a good opportunity to ‘press the flesh’ and tell people who you are and what you do. If you’ve got something in common with someone, it’s a good starting point to a conversation and you never know where it might lead.

The IMI’s Professional Register is an industrywide database of professional individuals recognised for maintaining their knowledge, skills and competency. To find out more, go to www.imiregister.org.uk

For a full list of the IMI’s accreditations, which provide proof of current competence for an individual’s automotive abilities, go to the Accreditation section of the IMI website

The UK’s largest automotive trade event is heading to the NEC in Birmingham in June, offering a vital opportunity for aftermarket professionals to source the latest tools, technology and innovations