Lady luck played a part in the early growth of long-running Tayside business Auto Services Perth which now employs a team of 65 staff.
The business was founded more than 40 years ago by Stephen Crozier and his father Jim.
The company has expanded greatly since then to be a commercial garage providing service maintenance of Isuzu, Maxus, Fiat, VW, Vauxhall, Mercedes Benz and Iveco, as well as MOTs of all vans and motorhomes.
The workshops are open long hours – from 7am till midnight Monday to Friday and a Saturday morning.
The business also has around 20 recovery vehicles working 24/7 for all the main breakdown companies, police, private customers and main dealerships in the Perth area.
Pools win kick-started Auto Services Perth
The venture initially came about because Steve didn’t like working for the railway.
His father, meanwhile, had been made redundant after working in the motor industry.
Jim used to do “homers” for friends and thought he could provide that service more formally.
The business began trading in 1981 from a unit in St Catherine’s Road, Perth.
Seven years later, Steve struck in lucky on the football pools, winning more than £40,000.
This allowed him to invest in the company’s first recovery vehicle.
Dealing with challenging trading conditions
The family-run firm has faced challenges over the decades, but perhaps surprisingly Covid wasn’t the biggest one.
Steve explained: “I think the credit crunch in 2009 was worse for us as we had just built new premises and the banks changed all the financial agreements.”
However, the pandemic still did have an impact on Auto Services Perth.
Steve added: “During Covid our recovery and rental died as no one was going anywhere, but the workshop remained busy as we work alongside SSE, Scottish Water, the ambulance service and all the dot.com providers who became very busy.”
Steve said that current trading is now ahead of where it was in the last pre-Covid year of 2019.
This year has brought its own challenges for the business, which Stephen runs alongside wife Elaine and son Mark.
Steve said overheads have gone “through the roof” and prices have soared. All of that means profits are down.
He said: “Shortage of vehicle parts as a result of Brexit and the war in Ukraine mean vehicles are off the road longer waiting on parts which customers are unhappy about, but we can’t help it.”
Steve also highlighted a lack of qualified technicians as a major issue facing the business.
The company has investment plans, which include a new workshop. However, they are on hold until more trained staff can be recruited.
Conversation