The growing car repair crisis that could leave you off the road for quite some time

The article beneath is an excerpt from The Independent’s Steve Fowler delivered consecutive to your inbox, simply participate your email reside successful nan container above.

Imagine having a insignificant sound successful your car – it happens – and past discovering that you conscionable can’t get it fixed. Not successful days, not successful weeks, not ever. That mightiness look a spot extreme, but nan UK’s car repair industry has a situation connected its hands, and thing needs to beryllium done.

This isn’t a communicative astir nan deficiency of parts that has been blighting immoderate caller Chinese car makers. I’ve heard reports of early cars being written disconnected by insurers simply because immoderate basal but important parts – for illustration a helping reflector – weren’t available. It’s clear that nan myriad caller brands person been moving to guarantee a beardown proviso of parts successful warehouses, conscionable successful case, to antagonistic these problems.

This is astir a deficiency of group to really hole nan cars successful an manufacture reportedly weighted astatine astir £35 billion, pinch nan worth of clang repairs said to beryllium astir £9 billion.

Like galore different businesses successful nan UK, rising costs – particularly employment costs – person made life difficult, while caller technologies mean nan skills needed to repair today’s cars agelong from accepted overgarment and bodyshop trades to precocious electronics expertise.

As I’ve discovered recently, nan car repair manufacture is an exciting, high-tech world – acold removed from its “under-the-arches” reputation.

Persuading young group that it’s an manufacture to aspire to – pinch amazingly bully salaries that tin beryllium good supra nan nationalist mean – is proving difficult, though. The mean property of a bodyshop technician, contempt nan tempting salary for younger workers, is 55.

I precocious met immoderate of nan astir inspiring young group who person completed apprenticeships successful nan assemblage and were moving together to show what a awesome spot nan car repair manufacture tin beryllium to build a career.

These talented individuals were channelling their productivity and passion for cars into jobs that are important for keeping Britain moving. Their backstories were vastly different – and sometimes challenging – but they were agreed successful their excitement astatine sharing their experiences: astir their training, their mentors, and nan nosy they person astatine work.

I met these awesome group astatine an arena organised by nan kindness AutoRaise, which exists to reside nan skills situation successful nan manufacture and beforehand apprenticeship programmes and careers successful nan automotive repair sector, pinch support disposable to businesses to thief bring caller talent into nan field.

It was fitting that AutoRaise utilized National Apprenticeship Week to motorboat its AutoYouth Alliance, designed to springiness apprentices and young technicians nan opportunity to style nan early of nan automotive repair industry.

As AutoRaise’s managing director, Emma Speed, said: “The AutoYouth Alliance exists because nan group entering our manufacture person insight, acquisition and ideas that matter. If we want apprenticeships and careers successful automotive to evolve, we request to perceive to those surviving it correct now, not conscionable speak connected their behalf.”

The automotive repair manufacture plays a immense domiciled successful keeping millions of vehicles safe and roadworthy. Without it, Britain could virtually grind to a halt. The manufacture itself – and nan authorities – should beryllium up and perceive to nan young group connected nan AutoYouth Alliance to thief them dispersed nan word.

This is simply a vitally important portion of nan wider automotive organization that doesn’t get nan credit, aliases nan headlines, it deserves. The young group I met filled maine pinch awesome dream that nan assemblage could emergence from nan shadows and go a awesome destination for careers – helping to support america each safely connected nan roadworthy for galore years to come.

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