Other garage equipment providers and workshop consultants are also available… so what makes us different? Why do so many of the AM100 dealer groups come to us for their workshop equipment requirements? This week we took some time to speak to our Design Manager, Jack Wilkinson, to catch up with his team and find out what makes our workshop design offering the number one independent choice for the world’s most exclusive automotive brands and dealer groups.

“99% of the way a workshop works is in the design. We never settle for the architects plan. Architects don’t understand the flow of a dealer workshop. We can reshape the layout to optimise the workshop… Which is where the money is made. We’ll ask the difficult questions.“ – Jack Wilkinson, Everard Design Manager.

Jack and his team of four CAD artists take great pride in approaching a workshop space in a different way. Where others will fill a space without trying to get the best from it, we know that the service bay is the most profitable area of any dealership or garage. If we can efficiently add a whole bay or optimise a space to offer the best in ergonomic through flow, we will. Our workshop design team regularly work with the building architect from early in the structural design phase to get the very best from any workshop space. We also look to save space by using modular Rousseau parts and custom racking to save more space for service bays, challenging the manufacturers’ requirements.

We ask the architect the difficult questions, which we’ve found they appreciate and genuinely enjoy as part of our process. Our clients certainly enjoy the saving we make and efficiency we add. Does the parts area need to be that big? Can we move this staircase for better access? Is unit repair large enough? We’ll get the best ergonomic flow and make sure a workshop will work, practically, for the future, sometimes doubling MOT capacity by optimising the equipment layout.

“We can take any vehicle (if we know the wheelbase and track, etc.) and be totally sure it will work with our designs. We have the latest specialist software to literally drive a vehicle into the workshop at the design stage, making sure its turning circle and wheelbase can access any bay in a single manoeuvre. No one wants to be doing a nine-point turn to access a ramp, even if that ramp is another revenue stream.” – Jack Sargeant, Everard CAD Designer.

This is what our CAD team and workshop designers do that sets us apart – working from the beginning to get it right. Liaising with architects to offer our 40 years of workshop design experience, getting the very best out of the plans from day one. With an outstanding portfolio under our belt and having created literally hundreds of workshop spaces for brands from Audi to Volvo, we offer new ideas and new technologies to solve any problem and optimise any space.

Working in this way also offers exceptional cost-effectiveness. Eliminating potential mistakes from the beginning means a smoother process to completion – on time, under budget, purpose-built.

We also know our kit – having worked with so many of the top automotive brands, all with specific requirements and approved suppliers and standards. Being independent we offer the best of the best for any given job. We aren’t locked in to just selling our own group kit, like our competitors. Everyone at Everard pride ourselves on our product knowledge – and that includes its footprint, suitability, compatibility, and a hundred other factors that mean it will or won’t work in each workshop space. You don’t get a second chance. We’d genuinely rather not sell our clients something than sell them something they might think is right, but won’t work.

“We’ve spent 40 years building a reputation as the best in UK garage design. If that means working with the architect from day one or being there, daily, on-site to solve those last-minute hands-on challenges, or just being reactive, that’s the service that sets us apart. To work with the brands we work with that’s the sort of service we have to provide.” – Nick Everard, Business Operations Director.

Want to know more about our workshop design services? Call our team directly on 01430 330330 (option 1) and we’ll be able to offer you the best advice possible for your workshop space and needs.