Get back to work says government, as staycation trend identified as road safety concern
Published: 17 July, 2020
Government advice on working from home is shifting towards encouraging remote workers back into the office, and with public transport still being shunned and millions of Brits looking to holiday in the UK this summer, garages could see a massive surge in work to complement the expected increase resulting from the end of the MOT extension.
At a press conference this morning (Friday 17 July), Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "Instead of government telling people to work from home, we're going to give employers, more discretion and ask them to make decisions about how their staff who work, safely. That could mean, of course, continuing to work from home which is one way of working safely and which has worked for many employers and employees.”
The P.M added: "Whatever employers decide they should consult closely with their employees, and only ask people to return to their place of work. If it is, as we really put our society and economy, it's right that we give employers more discretion."
The power to impose local lockdowns for addressing COVID-19 spikes will be increased for councils as well, Boris Johnson indicated, with implications for many businesses, including garages within local-lockdown areas. "These powers will enable local authorities to act more quickly in response to outbreaks where speed is paramount," he said.
When lockdown was first eased, it was explained that mini-lockdowns could target individual businesses as well as whole areas.
Meanwhile, with many people wary of public transport, garages could see business rise. Traffic has been increasing steadily since lockdown. At the end of June, it had reached levels comparable to the late 1980s and early 1990s according to the AA. At the time, the motoring organisation also predicted that traffic could be back to normal by the end of July.
Another factor that could impact on customer levels for workshop businesses could be a trend towards staycations. New research from Kwik Fit suggests that while only 15% of UK adults are heading overseas for holidays, 13.1 million are looking to use their vehicle to get away for a UK break this summer.
Unfortunately, 3 million of those using their car to holiday this summer admitted to never carrying out any safety checks before getting on the road. Only 54% drivers planning to travel with their car this summer say they check tyre pressure, just 50% monitor screen wash levels, and only 49% say they will look at oil levels before setting off.
More seriously, despite the government ending MOT extension on 1 August, only 19% of drivers affected say they will get a fresh MOT ahead of their trip.
Kwik Fit Communications Director Roger Griggs said: “It’s clear from this research that the roads are going to be extremely busy so the last thing anyone will want is the added hassle of car trouble. Carrying out a few checks on a vehicle before travelling a distance could prevent any unwanted delays on the side of the road. Our centres offer a free car health check for anyone not comfortable doing it themselves.”
- Surf’s up: Get on top of the digital wave and work deluge says Eurorepar
With the backlog of MOT and repair work now surging into garages, the PSA-backed Eurorepar Car Service (ERCS) network is urging garages to look at updating their digital presence so they can make the best of the opportunity in a changed business landscape.
- MOT exemption: 78% drop in tests being performed
- Coronavirus causes 60% of garages to close
More than 60% of garages in the UK could have shut their doors since the COVID-19 lockdown began, a survey suggests.
- Shifting demands, shifting gears
Garages that thought they would be veering away from MOTs in favour of essential repairs during the Coronavirus lockdown are still doing MOT tests at roughly the same rate, it has been suggested.
While DVSA figures showed a 78% drop in MOT performed between 30 March and 24 April, marketing agency Digital Incubator says the independent garages it works with that remained open during the lockdown have not seen such a steep drop.
“We have a lot of garage clients that have switched from MOT campaigns to clutch and gearbox work,” explained Jamie Stoulger, Sales Director and Operations Manager at Digital Incubator. “However, our clients are still generating a steady flow of MOT enquires.”
Campaigns
The marketing agency works with garages across the UK, and currently has over 1,200 motor trade campaigns ongoing. 80% of customers are in the independent sphere.
Jamie continued: “Regardless of the MOT not being relevant, people are still getting their cars picked up. A lot of our clients run a collect and delivery service. We are running that via the ad campaigns and on the website.”
There has been an impact, Jamie confirmed, but a mild one at best, and work overall continues: “MOTs have slowed down slightly, that just what it is, but regardless of us being in the middle of this pandemic, if someone still has to go into work and their car breaks down, they still need to get it repaired. They are not going to just leave it on the side of the road and deal with it six months later. You need it done. As a result, our clients are still generating leads.”
Performance
We asked Jamie he thought this has taken many of their garage clients by surprise. “I wouldn’t say so,” he replied. “There are a lot of franchised dealerships and service centres that have just closed their doors without even thinking about it. They just went ‘we can get funding, let’s just put everyone on furlough’. The garage businesses that decided to pummel through this, they are still performing. There might be a small dip in some cases, but across the board, our averages have not really dropped. I don’t want to make a bold statement and say it isn’t affecting anyone – it is – but they are on average not far behind where they usually are. It has hit them, but we are not talking about 50%. The drops in business are probably around 10% to 15%.”
Situation
On what has been in many cases blanket closure by across much of the franchised network, Jamie observed: “I worry about the outlets that are closing their doors without making the slightest attempt at generating business. It’s still out there. People forget that. Across the board, if you think about it logically, there might only be 50% of the business available, but if 80% of the outlets are closing down, the garages staying open will benefit. I think a lot of businesses are going to come back to a very big decline in their own customer base. Their customers have had chance to test another garage out. If they had a better service, I know where they will go the second time around.
“I think some businesses have taken things a little too far. There are things you can put in place, like contactless pick-up and delivery. Dealerships could have put in place what the independents have done to keep their workers safe and the customers safe. If you can, do everything contactless. A lot of companies are going to go bust because of this. The best bet is to do things safely, ensure it is all contactless, but keep the doors open. The business is out there, they just need to be a bit more open about how to get it.”
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