Managing director Tom O’Rourke says he should have set up his own in-house garage three years ago, as the benefits of having control over this part of business means vehicles can be turned around and prepped to customers' requirements in much less time. “We have gone from selling 18 a month to 30, that is a 40% increase in business,” the MD said, “we need to be on top of it.”
The £750,000 investment is on William Armstrong’s ex-Foden dealership in Livi and is just 1,500 yards from the MV Commercial head office.
The four-bay centre includes a £70,000 paint oven. Its capacity is six vehicles a week in a one-shift six-day week, but the longer-term plans are to go 24 hours/seven days a week on a two-shift basis. The wider plan is to roll out this concept to MV's other sites at Bolton and Luton.