Whitstable garage to close after 53 years

Garage owner says he'll 'miss it' but describes modern cars as 'rubbish'

Whitstable garage to close after 53 years
Photo: Google Street View

A garage will close at the end of this month, bringing to an end 53 years of trading in the Kent town of Whitstable.

The building, formerly the home of the fizzy drink manufacturer Star Minerals, will be demolished to make way for new housing.

Alf Reed, owner of BD Motors, told KentOnline: “I’m happy to be retiring but I will absolutely miss it – it’s been my life. If nothing else it’s one way of staying alive longer.

“But joking aside, it’s something you look forward to. It’s not something you dread getting up for in the morning.”

He intends to stay in the industry, but is critical of new cars, saying: “I think I’ll probably be involved with cars, but classic ones rather than the modern rubbish.”

Adrian Shoosmith, 56, who joined the garage in the 1980s as an apprentice, wanted to keep the garage alive, but a shortage of premises coupled with high rents made this impossible.

He said he will work from home, adding: “It would have been nice to keep it going but places either won’t let us have a garage or we just can’t afford the rents. There’s nowhere else for us to go really, but it means I can try something new if I don’t find anything in mechanics.”

The closure of BD Motors will be another loss to Whitstable, which recently saw the nearby Harbour Garage shut up shop.

Its closure was announced on Facebook, with a spokesperson saying: “There has been lots of speculation over the past week or so, unfortunately we closing our doors this week. It has been an absolute heartbreaking decision to make [but] the sheer running costs have gotten the better of us.”

Source: KentOnline

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

Have your say!

0 0

Lost Password

Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.