Can you give us a brief overview of your career to date?
Work Experience was a big thing when I was approaching my final year of school aged 15. Perhaps I just chose the motor trade because I loved cars; and a family friend worked as an insurance engineer. So with no other connection with the industry, I entered relatively blind just because the school said I had to choose something!
I was fortunate to secure a two week Work Experience slot and subsequent a Saturday job at SC Gordon Ltd, a Rolls Royce and Bentley specialist coach builder in Luton. My love of cars and these high end motor vehicles in particular propelled my interest enormously and ignited my career-long desire to learn.
I attended college to complete a body and paint apprenticeship, and moving between a couple of local body shop employers over 8 or 9 years helped me to earn more and learn more.
I then took the bold step into education and coincidentally took the position of my own previous college tutor who had moved to another teaching department within the college. The timing seemed right, and it seemed like another fantastic opportunity for me to learn. I ran the paint and body apprenticeship courses for 16 to 19 year old’s. I gained my adult teaching qualifications and developed some of the most complex interpersonal skills, helping me deal with people of all ages and backgrounds. I was only in my 20’s myself so it was a steep curve but I figured I could always go back on the tools should teaching not work out. 20 years on, training and education is still my thing. It’s funny how careers can seem to take their own path as one opportunity leads to another. A journey I could never have predicted in the early years, all because of the love of cars!
What is your current position?
I own an automotive training company which I started in 2009. Initially I went self employed as Rob Ward Consulting Ltd to deliver management consultancy and skills training for body shops, but as with many businesses, directions change as different opportunities come along. The business now delivers training for large national automotive organisations as well as small independent garages and in 2018 we took on a premises and set up an IMI Approved training facility, as Rob Ward Consulting Ltd became RWC Training Centre. We deliver training and qualifications across the entire motor industry sector with particular attention to the latest vehicle technology.
Why did you set up RWC?
The industry was expressing an growing appetite for change around 2009 when the British Standard Kitemark was introduced for accident repairs. This meant that body shops, both large and small had to up their game if they were to prove to their customers that they were a credible repairer. With safety of repair being at the forefront of the standards, repairers needed investment in equipment, training, policies and procedures and needed external expertise to achieve this.
RWC as a consultancy company was initially set up on the basis that the industry needed to sharpen up, and it probably did, but for me, the British Standards Kitemark very quickly opened different opportunities in training and consultancy so I actually did very little work on the Kitemark standards.
The original RWC business was run from my garden shed office where I wrote training programmes and new company policies for some of the largest accident repair groups. Still with that desire to learn, the early years of self employment taught me to be self motivated, disciplined, patient and perhaps most importantly of all, I was honest. I never pretended to be a huge company, the offering was just me, no physical products, just my time and input. And providing I was always honest with my customers, my integrity would secure the contracts and I believe that’s what RWC was built on.
What are the main technological changes you’ve seen in the industry?
The motor car has changed beyond where ones imagination could have stretched when I joined the industry 30 years ago. I can remember when electric windows and head rests were optional extras! My time working on models like the Vauxhall Cavalier or Nova back in the 90’s are still clear in my memory, but even I couldn’t have predicted the revolution we are in right now with electric cars and self driving technology becoming common place right before our eyes.
I love the technological changes and see it as my job to learn about these developments which we as an industry must understand fully if we are to remain in business. The collision repair sector specifically is always slightly behind the curve. It seems that vehicle manufacturers have an ability to invent, design and develop new technology which is then fitted to new vehicles which rapidly make their way onto our roads, even before the collision repair industry gets chance to understand how the new technology works. ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) such as forward facing cameras and lane assist technology are good examples of this. This clever tech has been in development for years, and yet so many garages are still unaware today of how it works and what needs to be done when these systems require re-calibration.
How has the customer changed?
It is now and has always been about expectations. I believe customers expect clear and honest communication. That is all. Customer service and public perception of the motor trade has improved enormously in the last 30 years of my career, but I still think we have some way to go. Businesses which will do well are those who constantly work hard on their customer service. We can all do better to continuously meet and exceed our customers expectations, my own business included.
How would you compare the impact of Covid-19 to the global recession of 2008/09?
I think because of its world wide scale and the affect it has had on peoples lives and their health, Covid-19 has and will continue to have the largest impact of any previous recession. It is incomparable to any previous period in my career. That said, I do not however believe it is negative. There are many positives to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic from an economical point of view. Some businesses have of course thrived through this period, for which I express a healthy feeling of envy and delight for them. What is really good is that we have all had the opportunity to refocus.
For RWC, it is still early days in term of re-emerging from lock-down, but the refocus has helped me massively in setting out what I want my business to look like as it grows. I also find myself embracing this rare opportunity to almost start up again. I know its a little strange and perhaps just my way of dealing with it but hey, this is going to be great, it’s like starting a new business all over again! I am really enjoying the challenge of building the business back up, firstly to what it was before lock-down but mostly to what I think I can make it into. Before Covid, I was too busy, and didn’t find the time to visualise my own business road map, but now I can! These are very exciting times for a small business with big plans.
Our individual lives and the direction of the world somehow needed to take stock, and Covid-19 has forced that upon us. The is no doubt that Covid-19 has been a tragic event, but what will emerge is going to be a brighter picture than it ever was in my mind.
What is the greatest challenge facing the industry right now?
Technology is where its at. The motor vehicle is accelerating faster than we can imagine. If we do not continuously learn to be experts in the latest vehicle technology, then the motor vehicle will literally leave us behind. My advice is act fast. Try to stay ahead. Get learning by getting your head into the stuff which you don’t really honestly understand because you’re going to need it. It’s what makes us future ready. I believe the work we do week in week out at RWC is to learn more and deliver more learning, and it’s that which continuously contributes to help both ourselves and our customers remain future ready.
What do you think will be the key trends over the next five years?
Again its about technology; and perhaps our trends and habits will change as a consequence of Covid-19 to a degree. In the next 5 years, I think we will drive differently, perhaps drive less which will naturally have implications on our industry, but I hope it will improve our well-being, productivity and mental health. We will meet differently, perhaps online more than face to face. We will I hope be a better balanced nation, with more time for the important things in life and the ability to focus on business direction and growth rather than just rushing around the whole time.
If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?
I would change the requirement for tighter legislation. How can it be ok for anyone to start up a garage business to fix and repair cars with no experience, no licence and no qualification to their name?
Cars are now complex machines and are dangerous if not repaired correctly. The electric vehicle revolution is upon us right now so all businesses who may come into contact with a hybrid or electric vehicle as part of their daily routine work are putting peoples lives at risk if they are not trained in the safe handling of such a machine. I love this industry enormously, but it will be better place the day that all those within it are trained and prepared to do their job safely. The industry is crying out for strict government legislation around the qualifications needed to work safely on modern vehicles.