Member Article

Garage moves into fleet repairs following deal

Stockport garage, Autopro UK Ltd, which is rated in the top five in the UK by the online Good Garage Scheme, is expanding its services and creating new jobs following a deal with Ultimate Finance in Manchester.

The garage is a family run business headed up by Mohammed Ali, and is part of their other business AA Autospares which has been supplying vehicle parts for 18 years to the local area. Due to demand from their customers they decided to start Autopro UK Ltd 18 months ago, which provides servicing, MOTs, repairs, diagnostics, brakes and tyres.

Since then Autopro UK Ltd has really taken off leading to them being approached by fleet operators to look after their cars. However, to enable them to do this they needed to provide trading terms rather than being paid once the work was complete.

They approached Ultimate Finance who provided them with an invoice factoring facility with debtor protection, which means the invoice is paid by Ultimate Finance as soon as it is issued, so the money can go straight into the business rather them having to wait 30 days or more to get paid. This has enabled them to continue to invest in the latest equipment, such as the Bosch Diagnostics, Snap On Tools and other leading equipment manufacturers and to employ more ATA mechanics and car valets to meet the additional workload.

Speaking about the deal Ali said,

“When we were approached by fleet owners we thought that we may have had to turn the business away as they wanted us to invoice them rather than paying when the car was collected. However the finance arrangement we now have in place keeps both parties happy as they get the terms they want and I get paid straight away.

“News is now spreading to the fleet operators that we are offering a really good service, as seen by our five star rating on the Good Garage Scheme website, and we are a third of the price of the big franchises, even though we are using the same original manufacturers parts to ensure the warranty is covered.”

Paula McDermott of Ultimate Finance, who organised the deal, had no hesitation in helping the business to expand.

“Mohammed Ali and his family have a really solid business which they are passionate about. We pride ourselves on providing cashflow solutions to SMEs and, as the high street banks are still reluctant to lend, we can provide alternative types of finance to help a business grow and create jobs.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Elena Dransfield .