We at Haynes Vehicle Services were delighted to feature in a full-length article in June 2013 edition of Motor Trade Matters, the magazine of the Scottish Motor Trade Association. Here is the full article from the magazine.
SMTA Article June 2013
Haynes Vehicle Services Limited is based in Thankerton near Biggar; whilst they started in 2000 as Haynes Coachworks they have just undergone a complete redevelopment of the workshops and now offer a wide range of services. These include; MOT services for cars, vans and motorbikes, bodyshop and accident repairs, vehicle servicing, diesel and petrol engine remapping and a number of more specialist vehicle services.
Kevin Haynes is very proud of the new workshop facilities they built in 2012 and is very pleased that they took the risk to completely redevelop the site.
“We put together the business plan to allow us to make such a big investment very carefully but the new facilities have allowed us to grow the business even faster than we planned.”
Kevin has identified the impact that his new facility is having;
“The new workshop has attracted a lot of new customers; it gives them a lot of confidence in our services. It has also given us the capacity to do a lot more work. Because of this I have taken on more staff and that means I can spend more time with customers. Being able to explain what needs to be done, how we are going to do it and how long it might take, helps customers have trust in my business.”
Investing in your business is not without risks but for this development Kevin was able to make use of a couple of additional sources of funding.
One source was South Lanarkshire Council’s Capital Grant Scheme. This scheme is targeted at new and existing business undertaking a growth project. Grants are available on a range of projects that include capital expenditure and property improvement.
The second was Clyde Wind Farm Fund (CWFF) which is supported by SSE Renewables who are the developers of the Clyde Wind Farm located near Abington. The purpose of the CWFF is to provide funding to capital projects which will result in a range of local benefits including employment and that support the local economic prosperity of South Lanarkshire. Kevin was the first applicant for CWFF and points out that these business grants made the decision to develop the business possible.
Kevin is keen to promote his business and sees joining the SMTA as a useful step.
“It is pretty straightforward; we have joined the SMTA in order to be able to take advantage of the services available to members. The MOT QC programme is one of the first things we will be finding out about because we want to make sure we stay ‘Green’ and make sure that VOSA continue to identify us as adhering to all of their standards. The SMTA badge is also a good reason to join, as you can see I think it helps to show our customers that we offer quality and dependability, which is why I am wearing it!”
