ACCORDING to research carried out by Fleet Assist, UK garages are generally continuing to run efficiently and overall, are providing high levels of service to fleets, despite challenges with recruitment, retention of qualified technicians and speculation around supply chain issues.
In a nationwide survey of garages within Fleet Assist’s network, results have shown that fleet customer demand is returning to the sector, although it is not yet fully recovered from pre-pandemic levels. As a result of the recovery, 72% of garages which had scaled-back their service provisions, such as collection and delivery of vehicles due to COVID, are now looking to re-introduce these during 2022.
The survey revealed however, that 98% of the garages questioned are currently experiencing trouble recruiting suitably qualified technicians for their workforce, and that the general availability of such technicians is currently low.
The supply of general servicing parts remains robust and despite the industry fears surrounding supply only a small number of garages are experiencing trouble in sourcing the specialised parts needed for some jobs.
Chris Crow, Head of Network Management at Fleet Assist said: “After what has been a turbulent two years for those within the SMR sector, it is good to see that the results of our survey point to the SMR sector remaining resilient in the face of multiple challenges.
“It also continues, in the face of adversity, to offer good service levels across the board. The pandemic saw garages having to effect sweeping changes to their working environments and patterns. While the parts supply issues have caused problems in a small number of cases, this survey suggests that overall, the supply of consumables remains strong across our network.”
Additionally, more garages are looking at innovative ways to address the skill gap shortage and develop new ways in which to attract new talent to the industry with enhanced apprenticeship schemes.
As a further indication of optimism within the fleet SMR sector, the survey results point towards the industry being future ready. A resounding 94% of garages believe that Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) will change the nature of their business in the future and as a result, are making efforts to ensure that they are prepared for the coming changes which the new technology will bring.
Despite the uptake of BEV technology in the commercial sector lagging behind that of passenger vehicles, with the majority of vans still being powered by internal combustion, more than 70% of Fleet Assist’s garage network is already qualified to the IMI Level two or above to work on BEV LCVs, and more than 80% is able to work on passenger BEVs.
On top of the impressive levels of technician qualifications, of the ‘BEV qualified’ garages, 60% have invested in their infrastructure to allow for multiple charging points on their premises and for the garages which do not currently offer mobile BEV servicing, more than 40% are considering adding this facility in the future.
Crow added, “Fleet Assist is proud that our campaign to ensure the EV readiness of our garage network has paid off and will continue to do so. By ensuring that garages within our network remain abreast of the changing technology within the industry, we believe that not only will our customers benefit from consistently high levels of service, whatever the make-up of their fleet, but also, the garages within our network can continue to expand into new service offerings and profit centres.”
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