Brexit has been the main talking point in the UK since the government triggered article 50, and how it’s going to affect businesses has been one of the biggest worries. Obviously, we work in the Garage and repair industry, so we decided to find out just how our garages were preparing, and these were the results.

After surveying our 12,000 independent garages, we found that nearly half (45.3%) of them have sourced alternative, UK based suppliers ahead of Brexit on Friday 29th March.

We also found that around 1 in 6 garages have been stockpiling parts ahead of the UK’s departure from the EU amid growing uncertainty around the deal that will be secured. Our survey also revealed that more than half (52.3%) of garages believed that there will be an increase in labour costs after Brexit, with nearly two thirds (61.5%) believing more customers will ignore required repairs for longer due to perceived/expected cost increases.

On top of this, we asked garages whether they were concerned that parts would become more expensive after Brexit, with more than half (51.4%) stating yes, and more than two fifths (42.3%) expecting Brexit to impact parts availability in the UK.

More than half of respondents also said that they’d made an effort to confirm agreements with current suppliers amidst uncertainty.

Following these findings, we’re now asking garages and other members of the public how they feel Brexit will affect all aspects of driving in the UK, and plan on publishing a complete study on the UK’s opinions on motoring post-March 29th.

You can fill in our short survey here

Al Preston, co-founder of WhoCanFixMyCar.com, said,

“Since the referendum resulted in the UK government triggering article 50, Brexit has been arguably the biggest talking point for people across the UK and much of Europe. However, with so much uncertainty on what happens when we leave, business owners have been left wondering how to prepare.

“The garage and repair industry is truly global, and many OEM parts are only manufactured outside of the UK. With the news that companies such as Honda and Nissan have closed factories to move production elsewhere, it only fuels worry for garage owners. However, it’s good to see so many taking precautions pre-Brexit, as I’m sure this can’t be said for all industries.”

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