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Today we celebrate a milestone in our journey – our 10th anniversary. When we founded Autotech Recruit a decade ago, it was to fill a gap in the market for a recruitment agency dedicated to placing temporary technicians into the motor trade. We had seen first-hand the difficulties in recruiting skilled vehicle technicians, and realised the impact the skills shortage was having on the industry.
Using temporary vehicle technicians and MOT testers was an unknown, but over the intervening 10 years, we have educated the industry and turned this misconception upside down. Today, we work with 80% of Motor Trader’s Top 200 dealers and are proud to be considered as THE automotive aftermarket’s one-stop-shop for technical recruitment and training.
At the centre of this success is our contractors, and we would like to thank each and every one who took the plunge, and joined our freelance revolution. We will continue to invest in all of you, through training and technology, as you help us keep the country’s workshops running.
Training has undoubtedly become a major focus for us over the years as the skills shortage has come into sharper focus. Autotech Training continues to go from strength to strength with partnerships forged with Bosch, OurVirtualAcademy.com, ZF Aftermarket and the IMI. And, in January, we will launch our own electric vehicle training suite which will go some way to help train the 70,500 vehicle technicians needed to support the electric vehicle parc.
Having an in-depth understanding of what the automotive industry needs has underpinned the success of Autotech Recruit. As part of this, I have been delighted to be invited to join many industry bodies over the years, from the DVSA Trade User Group, the NTDA as a regional chair and, most recently, the IMI’s TechSafe™ Sector Advisory Group.
A pinnacle moment in our journey has been the success we have generated with OEMs and dealer networks. The launch of our Manufacturer Led Programme (MLP) in 2018 saw temporary vehicle technicians trained by the major brands, ready to fill resource shortages across multiple dealership sites quickly. According to one group, MLP has helped dealer groups generate almost £11 million in additional revenue since its launch and, just last month, we were delighted to be awarded Motor Trader’s Recruitment Agency of the Year – a title we have coveted since we launched in 2010!
Awards and recognition, from both the automotive and the recruitment industry, have been bestowed upon us over the years, which is testament to the continuing hard work and dedication of our team.
At the start of 2020, with turnover set to reach over £10million, we launched a new brand identity and made our third office move to accommodate the growing team, and the flourishing training division. Despite the challenges of Covid-19, investment in our contractors continued with the launch of our exclusive online training portal through OurVirtualAcademy.com and, in October, the team broke turnover records.
We are excited to see what the next decade will bring, but listening to the industry and creating solutions will continue to be at the heart of what we do.
Right now we realise that the industry needs to focus its attention on creating a new pipeline of young talent, especially since apprentice recruitment fell by 87% during the pandemic. We are now on the cusp of announcing a major new initiative which will help stem the shortfall of talent coming into the automotive aftermarket.
While we continue to innovate, we will never move away from our original mantra which is to keep workshops running, and we would like to thank everyone who has joined us on this remarkable journey.
Here’s to the next decade!
Gavin White, CEO, Autotech Recruit