UK garages grappling with rising costs and skills shortages

UK garages are facing mounting pressures from soaring overheads and a shortage of qualified technicians, according to a new survey from Fleet Assist.

The research, conducted across Fleet Assist’s network of more than 5,200 garages and 650 mobile units, outlines the operational and strategic challenges confronting the sector.

Nearly nine in 10 (89%) of respondents identified business running costs and limited access to skilled labour as key issues.

Many garages are also looking to offset a decline in traditional servicing work, particularly as battery electric vehicles (BEVs) begin to require less routine maintenance.

Respondents indicated they are actively seeking more job volume to help counter this drop.

Workforce demographics were another area of concern.

Only one garage reported an equal gender split among employees, while 80% said at least two-thirds of their staff were male.

Most technicians were aged between 25 and 60, with 23% under 24 years old, a figure well above the national average of 9% for that age group, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Garages also highlighted the impact of increasingly complex vehicle systems.

While many see the potential of connected car technology to improve workshop efficiency, some expressed concern over the growing number of platforms and diagnostics systems they now need to access.

Costs associated with these systems are rising, although most garages reported more confidence when working with OEM Secure Gateways, provided they have the right diagnostics partner.

Fleet Assist’s supply chain director, Nikos Kotrozos, said: “Our survey has provided a wide-ranging insight into the garage industry and has confirmed the multiple challenges they face now and into the future.

"It is important that we recognise how garages are facing up to these challenges and how we can support them.”