Charles Eveson, managing director, Kernahan Service Eveson said one of the things that makes Kernahan Service successful is transparency.

“A customer brought in a Ford Mondeo that initially went to a competitor with a battery light problem, they replaced her battery for £135, which didn’t solve the problem," said Eveson. "She came to us and we replaced the battery in the key fob at a cost of £3.84, and it was sorted.”

Eveson bought Kernahan’s Ford retail site in Witney and set up a specialised aftersales department in its place: “I took them on because they were going to close the site down.

O2, Delphi and Vodafone are already offering on-board diagnostics tools to the independent aftermarket elsewhere in Europe.

“It’s two-and-a-half acres, a big showroom with eight cars and a second showroom with two cars. I did a deal with him, took on the staff, bought the assets of the business and took a 10-year lease on the building,” he said.

Kernahan has focused a lot on the parts side of the business. It used to sell 45 tyres a month at £14 average profit per tyre, but after a clear up of the shop to make more space, it now sells 150 tyres a month at £22 profit per tyre. There are two parts deliveries a day, enabling the company to complete most jobs in a day “because we have such good suppliers”.

Eveson said eVHC was one of the best things it has done: “Big thanks to BTC for putting it in place for us.

“It’s big bucks, and also helps with a duty of care. If a customer comes back and says you didn’t advise me of this, you have it there as proof.”