Life After Lock Down

As the country slowly creeps back to life. I thought I should give a rundown of what our business looks like after lockdown and what we have been up to.

A some of you may know myself, Eddie and Faith got a much-needed break at the end of July. We hired a Campervan and drove the North Coast 500 for 10 days. I was a bit apprehensive as a lot was still closed and I was not sure what the extra measures would mean, but without a doubt it was one of the most amazing experiences and would recommend it. Faith turned 5 whilst we were away and had a ball swimming at all the stunning beaches and being an explorer through all the rock pools and caves.

Other big news is that Faith Started school this month. She has settled in well, although after months of her being with us every day it is strangely quiet not having her around which I am sure a lot of you will also feel right now.

As a business I feel we have been very lucky in that we have been able to continue working through lockdown. And we have managed to return into our showroom and bring all our staff back on. As a family business it was important for us to make some small initial cuts in order to preserve our business long term, which we have managed to do. The last 6 months have been an enormous challenge for us as it has been for most others. We worked with 2 members of staff mainly from home with a crazy 4-year-old on the loose. But I hope we are starting to see things returning to a bit of normality.

We are now back in the showroom; everyone is back on board and the kids are back at school (Hallelujah!) I have loved being back in the office again. I feel so much more productive and connected to the business working from here. But with faith just starting school I may have to do a few afternoons working from home whilst Fiona covers the showroom. As I was working solely from home for such a long time we have this well organised so, there is no disruption to business.

The showroom itself received a much needed make over during lockdown thanks to Eddie’s hard work and is now looking better than ever. The biggest problem we have had over the last few months has been getting new stock in. We are now fully stocked again which makes a huge difference in the choice we have for our customers.

We have put in place new Covid Health and Safety measures within the showroom in line with government requirements. We ask that all our customers wear a mask within the showroom and sanitise their hands on entering before looking around any cars. There is hand washing facilities available and we have introduced additional cleaning within the other areas.

As we have a large showroom space we would never really be at capacity, all we ask is that only one set of customers at a time will be allowed to enter the office space to complete paperwork, although 90% of this can now be done online.

We are still offering free delivery to all our customers and the option of a contact free service from start to finish for those reluctant to visit showrooms.

We have had a great first full month back and love getting to see all our customers again. I’m not going to lie I am struggling with the masks as its making it difficult recognising customers when they come in, so please don’t be offended if we don’t know who you are straight away. I have had a few customers this week I have known for years and couldn’t recognise them behind their masks. Due to this I have just taken delivery of some visors for me and Fiona so at least you will get to see our smiling faces.

I would like to also thank all our amazing customers who we have seen over this unusual time. I know I have said it before, but I love my job and that is down to the customers we get to help. I have really missed having that face to face contact when I was working from home, so it has been lovely getting to see you all again, even from behind the masks! I have really enjoyed getting to chat to you all again not just messaging people online or over the phone. I feel getting to know our customers is a big part of our service as it helps us understand what is important to you and give you the best service, which can be harder to do over  a computer.

Looking forward, I am excited for the next few months, getting back to a routine and pushing forward. I know that we are far from back to normal yet and may never be again, but I think its important that we accept the changes we are having to make day to day and just find the best way to work with them.

Life goes on, and if we can get through the last 5 months … we can get through anything.

Theresa x

How we do weekends on Lock Down

In this crazy time, we are all living in its important to find ways to keep a bit of normality and fun were possible. I see a lot being posted about things to keep the kids amused, whilst that is very important, we shouldn’t neglect our own need for some escape time and fun. I wanted to write this blog today with some of things we have been using to stay in touch and have a bit of fun during the lockdown.

As I am home working Monday to Friday I try to keep a bit of a routine but at the weekends we have been trying organise things to keep us busy and connected to people after our Daughter goes to bed.

Here are just some of the things we have been doing over the weekend evenings during this time.

Virtual Gigs

Anyone who knows me and Eddie, know our favourite thing in life to do together is going to gigs. While this may not be an option just now, we have found that lots of artists are putting on live shows via either Facebook Live or Instagram Live these are great to feel involved in the gig. Also, a lot of DJS are doing sets too

.

One our favourites that is on every Friday from 8:30 is the Humes house party on Rochelle Humes Instagram page. Its lots of feel good music and they are doing it to raise money for charity. I would recommend you make sure you are following your favourite artists on Facebook and Instagram to make sure you do not miss any of them going live. And have yourselves a virtual gig night.

Zoom:

I have found this fantastic for video chatting with friends and family and use this to play games virtually. You can download zoom for free here https://zoom.us/ we have used this a lot over the last few weeks. It is free to sign up to and you can do video calls up to 40 minutes. However if you plan on doing a few Zoom nights it might be worthwhile upgrading which will be £11.99 for the month and will allow you to have unlimited time on your zoom call so you don’t have to log back in and out.

Game Nights

We have set a few game nights up for friends and family over the last few weeks here are some we have used

Cards Against Humanity

One of the funniest nights I have had was playing a game of cards against humanity with the girls. I found a virtual game here:

http://playingcards.io/ that you can send a link to friends to play together ( be warned this game is not for the easily offended) we also had a zoom call at the same time so we could chat and make a real night of it (There may also have been wine involved).

 

Virtual pub quiz

I set up a pub quiz for family and friends last weekend using a PowerPoint pub quiz I downloaded from this site https://www.power-pubquiz.com/ . If you sign up, you get your first quiz for free which is the one we used last week and it was a brilliant night. You set up a zoom call with everyone and then screen share and start the PowerPoint. We had everyone make up team names and I even set a virtual background on zoom like a proper quiz show.

It was such a good night I am going to try and do this every Saturday. To buy the quizzes its only around £10. It’s a good one for a mix of family and friends as all general knowledge. My mum is still in hospital at the moment (not covid related) and even she could join in with this which is great as we are not allowed to visit during lock down.

Boys night in

My husband and some friends set up a poker tournament on 888 poker and played along with a zoom call, cards are not my thing, but it is a great idea for a boy’s night. He also plays FIFA online with friends. Those who know Eddie know he is not one for the pub every weekend, but he seems to have a very busy social life on lockdown. I worry this lockdown life suits him a little too well. Another boy’s night idea has come from a friend’s husband who has set up a darts tournament with his friends. Every Saturday he goes into his garage where his dart board is set up and has a darts game over you guessed it …zoom (I believe some beers may be involved also)

For those not so technologically minded another idea I took from a friend is  her and her husband having a garden fence party with her neighbours at the weekend ( socially distanced of course) but good to just have a real chat out with your own four walls especially with the weather we have been having.

This time has really forced us to have a look at how we do certain things and come up with new ways of socialising, I really believe this time is so important especially after a week of trying to work from home , home school or for many of us both. It helps to just unwind and take your mind of everything for those few hours and connect with everyone we are missing. This is so vital in helping us recharge and get through another day of this new normal. I hope you can take something from these ideas and give it ago.

I would also love to hear if you have any other ideas you can share with us as I am always looking for things to fill our weekends.

Hope you are all staying safe #WEGOTHIS

 

Theresa xx

How I deal with Lock down- Part 1

During lock down I wanted to share a few things I have come across to help ease the stress/boredom.

I have suffered on and off from anxiety for years and I don’t think there is a parent out there who hasn’t. One of tools I use for this is Mindfulness.

I came across Angela Nearly 5 years ago when she was a birthing teacher for Daisy Baby, I was pregnant with my daughter and again when I went to her birthing classes after Faith was born. She is one of the most amazing warm and supportive women I have every met and because of her classes have met some amazing mums who I count as some of my best friends, as are our kids.

About a year ago I found out Angela had started Mummy Mindful classes local to me and jumped at the chance to join and I can honestly say it has been a wonderful experience.

She has created a safe space for Mums to chat, vent, relax and switch off for an hour (or  two).

However, being a self-employed mum of 2 herself the lockdown has meant the classes cannot continue face to face at the moment. I really miss that hour away to relax and switch off so I was delighted when Angela told us she would be doing her classed online.

Now she is doing 2 Facebook lives per week, one with mindfulness and guided relaxation the other a shorter session with just relaxation. The online classes are amazing, and I have found them an enormous help to switch off at such a worrying time.

You can listen to Angela’s first class for free on the group page. She only charges £5 per week for these classes and NHS workers or people in financial hardship can view for free.

I think we all need a bit of time away from everything and these classes are perfect.

I have added a link to her page below just ask to be added to the group for the lives.

Theresa xx

You will never find me finance!

You will never find me finance.

This is the phrase we hear from our customers every day and is mainly because they are fed up trawling through different companies only to be told their finance has been declined. Whilst we can in no way guarantee finance for our customers, I will always reassure them that I hear this phrase over and over and over again day in day out and we are still selling cars.

I thought I would write a bit about this today just to explain how we differ from other garages and finance brokers. The answer is fundamentally we are all the same we have access to the same tools and companies as everyone else the difference is our approach.

For many years “subprime” customers were never sought after by main stream dealers and most smaller garages or brokers it was seen as too much work and for most of the big guys there is someone walking in behind you so if they don’t get you passed by the easy route is it worth it?

As we are a much smaller dealer we have always taken the approach of making sure we exhaust all possibilities for every customer regardless of their credit score, and yes this can mean a lot more work and can take more time for example some companies can ask for a lot of supporting documents which may take our customers a bit of time to gather. But we have always been more than happy to do this as this more than anything else is what sets us apart.

Before coming to work in the family business I worked in subprime finance as an underwriter for nearly 10 years so have a good understanding of what is required when dealing with customers whose credit score is low. We love how we work here and there is nothing better than finding finance for someone who has used that phrase.

I hope this helps give you a better understanding of what we do that’s different here and as always if you have any questions about this or anything else please get in touch.

Theresa

The hardest Blog so far

It’s been a little more than 2 years since I’ve blogged on this site, partly due to how busy we have been but also due to how hard it was going to be to write this particular entry.

I felt it was important to start again in the hope that sharing some of my experiences as a woman and a mum in a very male-orientated business might help someone else in the same position as me.

Let me start again by telling you what has led to me being one of the few females in Glasgow running a second-hand car showroom.

As many of you already know I began working for my father’s business ten years ago and love what I do.

I worked closely alongside my father for many years and helped to build our family business. For those who knew my dad they will tell you this business was everything to him and he had installed this value and drive in me.

Our business was an extension of our family. However, things changed when on Christmas Day 2017 my dad passed away suddenly from a heart attack.

It was the most surreal and terrifying thing to have ever happened to my family.

The man who myself, my mum and brother relied on for so many things had gone. I felt our safety net had been ripped from us.

In that moment I felt that was it, with him the business would go and how could I possibly do this without him?

But as soon as I had thought this something else took over and I went to a sort of auto-pilot. Each day brought more problems to overcome within the business.

I did this one by one, I decided to make this a success, as I couldn’t let his life’s work go with him.

Also, it was to support our family as I knew my dad would want me to make sure mum would always be ok.

If someone would have asked me a few years back if I would be strong enough to do what I have done over the past nineteen months, I would have said most definitely not.

But I have come to know over the years – and without realising – that my dad had taught me everything I needed to know.

My other major driving force is my four-year-old daughter.

I think if it wasn’t for her, I would not have had the same determination – not just for financial security but also to be the best example I can be for her and show her anything is possible if you work hard and have a positive attitude.

Well, what a nineteen months it has been.

Let me explain – when dad passed, he was a sole trader, so legally the business went with him.

This meant that mum and I would have to start a whole new business from scratch. How we manged this just days after losing my dad I will never know – but as I have said before something else just took over, at work I would get on with things with a drive I had never had before.

Then I’d go home and grieve.

It took around three months of hard work and overcoming daily problems before we had the new business up and running properly again and aside from my daughter this is probably the thing I am most proud of in my life so far.

However, we would never had gotten through without the help and support of some amazing friends and colleagues who I will never be able to thank enough.

While this blog so far has been about the hard times with all of this has came the most amazing year our business has had to date.

Around December last year we made the decision to expand and extend our premises to hold double the amount of stock. With this came another set of new challenges. However, I now have a new outlook when it comes to work and believe that the hardest thing to ever happen to me already has, so anything else is easy by comparison.

We took on the unit next to us and started to knock down the walls in a freezing December – and, at the same time, began to increase our stock levels.

There was so much to do with taking on the new building and my husband took on most of the responsibility for the physical work involved with the move despite working full time in his own job.

It was always dad’s plan to take on the extra unit and I am so pleased we have managed to do this within the year, and it has really paid off as we are the busiest we have ever been.

So much so we have had to take on another member of staff to manage our now-huge showroom. As you know we pride ourselves on being a family business so, of course, the job went to my husband.

I sit here now in our nice new office which even has windows!

And I hope that dad is happy with the direction we have taken his business as it meant the world to him.

But I am also thinking about what makes us different and successful as a business:

One of the biggest things I have learned through all of this is what makes a business is the people within it – and I am so proud of our team that I have the honour of working with and that’s what makes our business unique.

The other part is our customers without whom we wouldn’t have a business.

I often feel that within the sub-prime car sales market customers can be treated unfairly and often looked down upon. I have met some of the most amazing people working

here over the years and love getting to know all of our customers and strongly feel whether you are buying a car at £5000 of £50000 you should be given the same level of service, I always ask my self would I be happy if I was given this level of service.

I can’t wait to start blogging a bit more again as I feel our business is unique for many reasons and I want to share more experiences, that will hopefully help others trying to either grow their small business or just juggle running a business with being a mum.

 

A lot has changed in a year !

Well what a year it has been !

Both personally and professionally it has been a very busy  here. This is my first blog post after coming back from Maternity leave. Although I may not have been in the office, as it is a family business I have been involved throughout my time off.

I have loved spending time off with our latest wee addition Faith, but I am glad to be getting back to it after nearly a year away from my desk . I am  still only in the office 3 days a week at the moment but I am enjoying getting a hot cup of coffee and not spending every day covered in Weetabix and snot.

I am also happy to see that everyone has been taking such good care of the place in my absence. We have been busier than ever this year and  with the introduction of a few new finance companies we are now able to offer help with car finance to many more people than before.

The biggest change I have seen is with the introduction of device/pay as you go finance products, these allow customers who previoulsy  would not have been able to obtain car finance,  get into a new car and start rebuilding their credit history. They will consider most circumstances such as:

  • Unemployed
  • Low credit score
  • Discharged bankrupt
  • Self Employed/ Agency /sub contractor
  • Arrears
  • Not on voters roll

How they are able to lend when others can’t is down to the fact that they will fit a device or tracker to the vehicle which gives them more security. A lot of people are put off with this when it is actually a very simple process and in some cases will lower your insurance. The two ways this can be done are as follows

Device

A device is fitted to your car which comes with a keypad and when you make your payment you receive a code which you enter. If you miss a couple of payments then they can imobolise  the car, but this is only in extreme cases where no contact is made and you would receive plenty of notice before they would do it.

Tracker

A tracker is fitted to your car which would allow the finance company to find the car in the event of non payment and this particular method can lower insurance due to the car having the tracker fitted

Neither methods damage the car or interfere with the driving and it allows so many more people to gain access to hire purchase products.

I wanted to give a short explanation of these products as some people are unsure exactly what is involved with our new products. I hope this helps.

Now I’m back to work I hope to keep my blog a bit more up to date

Theresa xx

 

Say goodbye to The paper part of your licence

 

I haven’t really kept up my blog lately due to us being busy in the showroom working on some new things.

We have been kept really busy here with new regulatory changes and some new marketing ideas we have been working on.

On a more personal note it has also been a busy month as it was our fearless leader Ged’s ( or dad as I call him) 60th

Birthday and we arranged a surprise party for all our friends and family which he loved

But now I have a bit more time again I thought it was time to get back to it. This week I wanted to highlight the new changes in regards to your driving licence, alot of people may not know but as of the 8th of June 2015 your paper part of your driving license will become invalid and should be destroyed.

But don’t panic your card part and old style ( paper only) license will still be valid and is now all you need.

How will anyone be able to check your points ?

well, there is a new online and tel. service set up to check driver information for hire cars, car finance etc. you will be able to view and share your own driver info via this link https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence

How will this affect me driving abroad ?

Currently, the green section of paper is required mainly for hiring cars but it will no longer be valid from June 8th. Instead, anyone wanting to hire a car while traveling abroad will need a special code to show endorsable convictions like speeding.

To get a code, drivers will need to log on to the DVLA website but be warned, the code you’re given will only valid for 72 hours. If you want to hire a car more than three days into a trip, you’ll need to generate a new code while abroad. If you don’t have access to internet, the DVLA will make a phone number available.

Will I still have to renew my licence?

Yes, you will have to renew your card part every 10 years which is the same as you do now. Please bear in mind there is a £1000 fine if this is not done and also this drops to every 3 years when you are over 70 years old.

I Hope this helps explain a bit better what changes if any you will have to make.

Theresa xx

Some Frighteningly good advice on tyres !

My favourite time of the year is fast approaching with Halloween, Guy Fawkes and Christmas. However what many people might not know is that October is also Tyre safety Month. Tyre safety is one of the most important areas of  basic car maintenance even more so with the cold wet autumn weather setting in

Your tyres are the only part of your car which make contact with the road, your safety when braking and steering depend on them, that’s why I though I would put together some basic points to look out for when checking your tyres:

  • Type of tyre: There are a few different types of tyres your car can have, for example run flats, radial ply whatever type of tyre you use always make sure you do not mix your tyre types.
  • Tyre Pressure: It is important to check your tyre pressure regularly, you can do this at most petrol stations. To find out what your tyre pressure should be check your car’s hand book or if this isn’t available you can look up the info online. It is very important you don’t just guess the right tyre pressure as every car is different.
  • Inspection: Have a look at your tyres, if there are stones in the treads remove them. If the tyres have lumps or bulges have it examined by a tyre specialist straight away, this could be a sign of internal damage to the tyre which can cause a blow out.
  • Watch your tread: Tyre treads are designed to grip the road when wet, so the lower your tyre tread the less effective your tyre becomes ( that is why a longer stopping distance is advised in wet conditions).The legal limit in the UK is 1.6mm but the tyre safety organisation recommend tyres are replaced well before your tyre reaches this level.

This short video below highlights some the areas I have covered, also if you would like further info the tyre safe website is great for this:

http://www.tyresafe.org/tyre-safety/tyre-safety-information

I hope you find this information helpful.

I speak to a lot of motorists on a daily basis and it always suprises me how many of them do not know the most basic car maintainance information. hope that by highlighting tyre safety month and bringing a bit of attention to it that people will start paying a bit more attention to their tyres as far. As I am concerned tyres are one of the most important parts of your car.

As well as Tyre safety I hope to share some information in other blogs on other areas or car safety and maintenance Having grown up in the car trade you assume that everyone has the basic knowledge on these things . I welcome any feedback on if you found this post helpful and what other topics you would like to see covered.

I hope you all have a frighteningly good Halloween.

Txx