For someone who claims not to be ambitious, the last few years must have been quite the ride for Dorset-based specialist HGV repairer Scott Shearing.
Shearing, who set up Scott Shearing Vehicle Repairs in 2008 working out of “an old cow barn”, will soon celebrate the company’s first year in a purpose-built modern six-bay workshop covering an acre of land in picturesque Wimborne.
“Someone said this site must be everything I’d ever dreamt of,” Scott says. “But I hadn’t dreamt it all! I’ve never been particularly ambitious. This new site is more of a necessity as we’ve grown.”
The independent, family-run business, which offers services such as truck and light commercial vehicle repairs, inspection and diagnostics, moved into the new workshop in February adding not just greater space and pits, but also a new compressor, vehicle lift, tail-lift LOLER testing and an extended tachograph facility including a dedicated bay. It also became an ATF to carry out MoTs on HGVs in the local area and added Class 4,5 and 7 MoT services. (see box, p38).
Its mainly repeat customers include local transport and waste firms. It also does work for Crouch Recovery, provides 24-hour road assistance, and repairs vehicles such as fuel tankers at Bournemouth Airport. Last year’s turnover was £1.2m and it is on target to hit £1.6m in this financial year, helped by high inflation tempting companies to maintain existing fleets rather than buy new.
“Our growth has been through word of mouth and our reputation of good workmanship and prompt service,” says Scott, who began his career as a 16-year-old apprentice mechanic at BRS Poole in 1989, eventually moving on to Phill Bascombe Transport in Wimborne in 1999. “I was a technician responsible for all fleet maintenance there, as well as a traffic planner and driver as required. I had always wanted to be a driver, even getting up at 4am as an eight-year-old to help a neighbour do his lorry deliveries around London!”
Shearing went self-employed in 2008 after working on Phill Bascombe’s fleet and operating out of that interesting-sounding workshop.
He remembers it as an “old cowshed on a farm”, stating: “It was very basic with no office or heating! We had one pit and a flat bay”. But it was the kick-start he needed.
“That secure work allowed me to take on other customers and my first two employees,” Scott adds. “I have a lot to thank Phill for. I still do his work, but we do it here now!”
Scott’s fellow director and wife Sue joined soon after to look after the growing company’s administration. They moved to a two-bay workshop in nearby Longham in 2011, adding even more customers and services such as a tachograph centre, but again over time outgrew it.
“We ended up doing work outside because we didn’t have the space,” Scott recalls. “We decided to look at some small units at an industrial park in Wimborne, which was owned by our landlord at Longham. The idea was to turn them into Class 4 and 7 MoT stations and keep the workshop at Longham. But they were a metre too short to get a Class 7 bay in.”
Their landlord – Dorset-based Ankers & Rawlings – offered them the chance to move into a bespoke building at the park, which became the six-bay workshop. Scott has leased it for 15 years.
“We had been tenants of theirs for over 10 years, so we had built up a relationship,” says Sue. “The numbers were a bit frightening, but our turnover is going up and we knew the ATF would be a moneymaker. The investment in new equipment is all reinvested profit and we are also very careful with costs. In fact, when Scott heard the £10,000 quote for a gate for the new site, he decided to build one himself!”
The company has also invested in new office staff and currently has 16 employees, as well as three apprentices. It is also advertising for another HGV mechanic. “HGV technicians are so hard to find, especially those in their 30s and 40s. We all headhunt off each other in our line of work,” says Sue. Scott says the lack of available skills is putting the lid on further expansion. “We have a waiting list of customers,” he says. “It’s frustrating because there is land around us to expand into, but we are at capacity in terms of skills.”
But it doesn’t stop him thinking of growth. “Our motto is to ‘Keep business moving’,” says Scott. “We have made enquiries about being an approved repairer for a major HGV manufacturer. A lot of vehicles get sold with an R&M package, so we would gain work with that, as well as upping our profile. The demand is there.” What was that about ambition again?
