Reply To: Opinion: It’s a worrying time for garage owners with difficult decisions to be made

[Duncan Smith]

Many thanks for the article Aaron, it’s nice to know we’re not the only ones who have been wrestling with this decision. We followed an almost identical path to you, but for the first time in over 40 years we too arrived at the decision on Friday that it was time to shut up shop and wait for it all to blow over. It was possibly the toughest decision we as a business have ever had to make, but at the end of the day the safety of our ten staff and that of our customers had to come first. The prospect of a rapidly growing overdraft, even with the financial support promised by the government, is a huge concern. We have never once been into the red in all our years of trading, but if this drags on for two or three months I can see it taking 18 months or more for us to recover financially. And I’m sure we’re in a better starting position than many.

All the best.