MEET THE EXPERTS: RS&E

MEET THE EXPERTS

RANMORE SERVICE AND ENGINEERING

Nearly 40 years after founding Royce Service and Engineering with Patrick Lloyd-Jacob, Paul Brightman passes the torch to Jonathan Tait, as Royce becomes Ranmore and the business lives on

PHOTOGRAPHY: LAURIE GRIFFITHS

Let’s begin with the latest news – Jonathan, can you tell us about the re-launch of the business and how you became involved? JT: I live locally to RS&E and I was looking for somewhere to store my Bristol, which I ended up doing with them. While I was there I noticed a really exceptional Bentley Turbo RT for sale with only 5000 miles on the clock. My business partner Humaid Masaood had been looking for one so I told him

Jonathan Tait (left) looks forward to building on all that Paul Brightman (right) has created at RS&E about it. Soon after, I saw they had an Arnage that I liked, so I bought that too. Through all this, I got to know Paul and Patrick and felt they were honest and open, and I eventually learned they’d got to the stage in life where they would like to ease themselves out of the business over a few years. Humaid and I looked at the very loyal team of staff and the equally loyal customer base, and in February this year we bought the company. It’s re-launched as Ranmore Service and Engineering, so we keep the same initials: RS&E.

Paul Brightman and Patrick Lloyd-Jacob aren’t disappearing quite yet, I hear. What kind of changes can customers expect? JT: That’s right, Paul and Patrick will remain for a year or two to ease the transition and make sure customers know the same standards of service are going to continue. We don’t want to change the business very much; the core of what RS&E does is in the workshop and it’ll remain that way, with some investment to come that should add some more technical staff and equipment. We will do some more car sales too, and we may bring in a separate sales manager, but the quality has to be right – we’re only happy to sell the cars we can stand behind. So it’ll still be a technology and engineering-led business.

Going back to the early days, can you tell us how it all got started, Paul? PB: Patrick and I met in 1979 at Jack Barclay Ltd. They were taking on 16 apprentices from about 300 applicants and we both got onto that apprenticeship, which lasted while we went through a 3-year college course. When that came to an end we carried on at Jack Barclay but felt that the standard of care for the customer wasn’t always what it should have been in those days, and we wanted to start a business that could do that side of things better.

Around that time there was a strike in the workshop, which was heavily

unionized at the time, and quite a few guys with families to feed couldn’t stay out with no pay, and left. Patrick and I thought maybe this was our get-out, though we couldn’t get started straight away. I went to work for Stratstones for a year, fixing Jags, but then we found some premises in Ashtead in Surrey and tried to get it going.

I remember our first visit to a bank with a business plan – they asked why we only wanted a £3000 overdraft and fifteen quid a week wages, and we said we didn’t need more because we were still living at home with our parents. Even with £1500 in savings each, they rejected us! We eventually got accepted by Barclays when my dad offered to back us up, and we were in business…though customers would quite often see a young lad in his early twenties and ask to speak to the boss!

I know you eventually moved to the current site in Betchworth around 19 years ago, but how has the business grown and changed over the years? Rolls-Royce and Bentley have introduced a lot of new models since you started… PB: We’ve taken on the newer cars as they’ve developed, really. Most of the business was SY and the new SZ cars when we started, as the Bentley Turbos came along, then the Continental Ts and so on, then the Arnage and Silver Seraph family. When the VW-era Continentals started appearing we did take on a lot of Continental GT work, investing in special tools and diagnostics. But our staff didn’t really gel with the cars or indeed some of the customers, who tended to use their cars as daily drivers and treat them as such. So we moved back to the work we enjoyed, which is where our strength is – roughly 1945 up to the end of the Arnage.

Does that reflect the cars you both have a personal preference for? JT: Yes, very much so. I suppose I enjoy cars from the late 1950s right through to the early 2000s. »

I’ve had other classics before but my first foray into Rolls-Royce or Bentley was the Arnage, and since I’ve started driving older models like Shadows, I see the appeal there too.

PB: I like Shadows, particularly either early or late Shadow Is. They’re nice to work on; when you look under the bonnet of a later Turbo R it can be a bit daunting if you’re not used to it. There’s a lot going on and much of it is hidden under plastic covers. But I love driving them, and the same goes for Continental Rs. If you can handle driving and maintaining a Turbo R you can look after a Continental R too. They’re great cars.

As well as offering cars from stock, will you take cars to sell on commission? PB: If the relationship with the customer is right, and the car is right, then yes. We’re always open to the idea but we prefer to know the car, because some cars will need money spending on them before they’re in a condition we’d be happy to offer.

JT: We’re certainly happy to do a test and report on a car first, so the customer can make an informed decision about the best way forward. We’ll find cars for customers too, if there’s something they want but aren’t seeing the right examples in the small ads.

How does the future go for RS&E from here? JT: There won’t be any radical changes. Humaid and I want to build on the reputation the business has already earned, hence Paul and Patrick’s extended stay as we try to ensure it becomes evolution and not revolution. After all, it’s the same team in the workshop. We think there’s room for expansion, for instance into more nutand-bolt restorations, as the demand is there, but the basic elements of what we do will remain: mechanical repairs and servicing, our bodyshop, sales, storage and parts supply.

PB: Patrick and I have always been very proud and enthusiastic to work on such wonderful motor cars, and that remains. We both look forward to seeing the continuation of what we started, moving from strength to strength in the hands of two very passionate car enthusiasts. RS&E lives on. ■

THANK YOU

We’re grateful to Jonathan, Paul, Patrick and the team at RS&E for their help with this interview. To find out more, visit rsande.co.uk or call +44 (0)1737 844999.