A SCOTTISH auto-repair firm has announced further expansion after celebrating the businesses 17th year with its 17th garage set to open on April 1st.
D&G Autocare have announced the launch of the new garage which it hopes to use to employee further apprentices in the future.
The new garage will be situated pposite the Shawfield Stadium in Rutherglen and has a set up cost of £150k and will employee five staff.
Experienced autocare professional, Shaun Clelland, previously the manager at D&G Autocare in East Kilbride, will head up the new garage.
D&G headquartered in Kirkcaldy, Fife, employs a total of 150 people, with a £10 million turnover.
Commenting on the launch of the new Rutherglen garage, Director of Operations, Peter Wood said: “We are delighted to offer both domestic and business customers in the Rutherglen area, a modern and accessible new garage carrying the trusted D&G name.
“It’s good news for the local economy at what has been an extremely difficult time for everyone.
“We look forward to building a strong clientele here in the coming months. This is a fantastic new location, just five minutes from Glasgow City Centre.”
“It’s also an extremely happy coincidence that this opening of garage number seventeen is coinciding with our seventeenth anniversary.
“Looks like it’s a lucky number for us at this time.”
“It was always our intention at launch to try to open a new garage every year, if we saw the correct opportunities in the right locations.”
“It hasn’t worked out exactly like that, but we’re really pleased to have got to this total, especially given the pandemic, which is affecting every part of the economy. Each garage we open represents an overall investment in equipment and staff of over £150,000, which is a considerable amount of money.”
Mr Wood went on to say that the business operated a very successful apprenticeship scheme for both mechanics and administration staff.
Mr Wood added: “Three young people will be qualifying later this year across our group as a result of our Apprentice Scheme,”
“It’s really important to us to keep this going, and even before the pandemic came along, we saw real value in this approach, providing us with young mechanics trained to our own standards, and administration staff that understand the business inside out.
“We would hope to take on an apprentice in the future at the Rutherglen garage.”
