MEMBER PROFILE A
nderson Clark Motor Repairs was set up by Managing Director Graham Clark and his late business partner in 1996 and has established itself as
one of Inverness’ leading auto repair firms. ‘Cutting costs, not corners’ has been the business’ mantra since day one as it strives to do things cheaper than franchise dealers and more cost effectively than other independent garages.
Over 20 years after its inception, Anderson Clark Motor Repairs has become a multi-award-winning “mini brand” in its region that continues to attract customers from all across Scotland despite its locality. Graham spoke exclusively to SMTA Magazine to deliver the inside track into his business. “We set up Anderson Clark Motor Repairs with the view that we’d be making a living for ourselves; we spotted the chance to have the destiny in our own hands,” Graham explained. “And 24 years later I like to think that we’re now well-established and almost like a mini brand in Inverness. We do have customers that travel from Edinburgh and Glasgow to come to us; people who have been customers in the past but have relocated to the central belt. They’ll book a service with us and visit family at the same time so it works for them, but it’s fantastic to see they still trust what we do and haven’t chosen a garage that is now more local to them instead. “We do a lot of work on behalf of fleet companies as well. We are heavily involved with the 1Link fleet process for example.” Anderson Clark Motor Repairs carry out a variety of mechanical and diagnostic repair and maintenance services including MoTs, professional servicing, wheel alignment, engine diagnostics, brake repair, clutch repair and air conditioning. Motor Trader magazine spotted the excellent work that the garage was doing, and thus awarded it with the prestigious Garage of the Year award in 2016 and ’17. “We’ve been involved with lots of awards over the years and the Motor Trader one is quite special because they actually send somebody out on site to do a bit of vetting,” Graham added. “You could write anything on an application and if the submission looks good enough you can win the award. But Motor Trader physically came to see us, saw we weren’t pulling the wool over their eyes, so we hold that award in a particularly high regard. It was also a great PR opportunity for us.”
To provide award- winning services,
Anderson Clark Motor Repairs must employ the best possible members of staff. Each employee is highly-trained with their own individual training plan, and are valued like a member of the family. Staff care and retention is something Graham is particularly proud of: “We hold accreditation for Investors in People and Investors in Young People, which is pretty unique in our industry at our level,” he said. “That shows our level of staff care and retention as the last time we actually replaced a member of staff was five years ago.” Anderson Clark Motor Repairs has been a proud member of the SMTA for half a decade now, and Graham admitted he has been impressed with the level of recognition, guidance and support he has received since joining the fold. “Traditionally I never really saw the huge benefit of being part of a trade association but the SMTA has totally changed my mind on that,” he said. “First of all, the coverage we get is great through the magazine. But the big help is with our MoT compliance. It was this regime that convinced me to join and we now have somebody from the SMTA that comes in and oversees our compliance. They give us fantastic advice which we’ve adhered to the letter of the law, so when they come and do an audit every six months we sail through as it’s all on the back of their guidance up front.” Anderson Clark Motor Repairs is continuing to
do everything it can for its customers, with a big coup being its fleet of eight loan vehicles that are available at any given moment. These are offered free of charge including insurance cover. As Graham argues the benefits of this are twofold: it both boosts customer satisfaction and provides a useful marketing tool. “Lots of people say to me ‘how can you afford to have eight loan vehicles on the road?’ My thought to that always is ‘how can I afford not to?” Graham added. “It gets a customer mobile for the day and is covered in our livery so it’s advertising our garage when they’re out on the road.”
The latest addition to this fleet, a Nissan LEAF, is of particular value: “This is demonstrating to our customers that we know what we’re talking about with electric cars,” Graham concluded. “We can fully maintain any hybrid or electric car that’s currently on the road, we can cater for just about any vehicle.”
With staff consultation the business no longer opens on Saturday’s to address the work / family balance for all staff but the garage has recently expanded its opening hours to serve from Monday to Friday 7am - 5pm with all queries, vehicles and customers welcome. As one of the most recognised and trusted garages in the North, Anderson Clark is thriving.
For more information: 01463 222324 or
www.andersonclark.co.uk
WWW.SMTA.CO.UK WWW.SMTA.CO.UK 19 7
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