17/08/2026
The Telegraph asked five independent garages what they'd buy with £20,000 of their own money. Four said petrol or diesel. Matt was the only one who picked an EV.
His choice was a used long range Model Y, single rear motor. 250 to 280 miles of real range, comfortable, and the Supercharger network behind it. It's a car that handles the everyday stuff without any drama, which is what matters when you're spending your own money.
That's the same thing we tell customers who come to us weighing up their first used EV. Buy on how a car ages and how it drives every day, not on the badge.
Chris Menon's piece is in the Telegraph now if you're in the market.
14/08/2026
When an EV motor starts whining, it's usually the bearing inside it.
Until now the only fix was a whole new motor.
Alistair Mason from Schaeffler came down to the workshop to hand over their new E-ARTS tool, the Electric Axle Repair Tool. It lets us split the motor, draw the stator off the rotor, change the bearings and build it all back up. There are no other contact points in there, so once the bearings are done the motor is sorted.
That's a repair instead of a replacement, and a much smaller bill for you.
Thanks to Alistair and everyone at Schaeffler for getting one to us. Take a look 👇
12/08/2026
Running a business can be a lonely job. You make the big calls, and most of the time nobody outside your own four walls ever tells you whether they were right.
Last week we hosted the GOLD Cohort 15 board meeting here at the workshop. Four owner managers round a table with their plans, their numbers and their problems out in the open, and everyone else free to pull them apart.
Round that table: Dave Cook from Bounce Activations, who build live brand experiences. Henry Herbert from Hobbs House Bakery, fifth generation, baking since the 1920s. Geoff Newsome from The ITSA Digital Trust, who refurbish donated computers and have put digital education in front of more than six million people. And QuoLux, who run the whole thing.
Claire and I have run this business together for years, and my grandfather started the garage in 1962. None of that means we've got all the answers. Sitting in a room with people who'll be straight with you is one of the better things we do for the business.
Thanks to everyone who came, and to QuoLux for putting it together.
Hobbs Bakery
The ITSA Digital Trust
QuoLux
12/08/2026