After a busy week, it became pretty obvious that the next few weeks would be a challenge.

MOT’s had already slowed up following the six-month MOT extension and we’ve already been taking calls from customers wishing to postpone.
On Thursday and Friday the roads were significantly quieter.
Offices around us had closed and the sandwich shop at the station had shut its doors.
I met with my two fellow directors and then with all of our staff.
We’ve taken the painful decision to temporarily shut and to furlough everyone.
We finished all outstanding work and MOT’s on Saturday and rang all customers who had bookings.
They were all understanding and, with the exception of a couple, have all rebooked for three weeks’ time when we’re hoping we can return to work.
That said, who knows how long it’ll take to return back to normality.
Related: Hampshire independent explains how it’s dealing with coronavirus
For now, I’ve got three weeks (minimum furlough) at home.
The government basically told motorists that while they don’t need an MOT garages will stay open to keep their cars roadworthy.
It means we’re relying on nearly ten million drivers to voluntarily bring in their cars for work.
What seems to have been overlooked is that if they’re not prepared to bring them in for a test, they’re unlikely to bring them in for maintenance.
There is no plan that I’ve seen for when that six months is up yet.
Related: It’s a worrying time for garage owners with difficult decisions to be made
September is a new reg month, so we will already have more than enough MOT’s that month, plus add in six months of pent up demand.
I envisage a few months of extremely arduous work from September, but we won’t be rich because in March we’ll have six months without MOT’s again.
I really don’t want to bash the leaders of this country in these very troubled times, but you’d think that they would at least consult with our industry before releasing these policies.
It reminds me of the debacle scrappage scheme.
Related: Garage owners left to weigh up pros and cons of staying open
For now, more and more garages will have no choice but to shut the doors.
The forecast is set fair for the next few days and I’ll be taking the time to recharge my batteries because I’m sure when we do return to work we’ll be busy as ever.
Stay safe everybody.
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