A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A WORKSHOP MANAGER

I’ve been called many things in my life, but the one that comes up most often is ‘addict’. Someone once said to me that, if we ‘cut you open, you bleed Vault through and through’ - which I’d interpreted as perhaps the biggest compliment they could have paid.

How many people are lucky enough to feel the way about a ‘job’? Which is, after all, were we will spend the greatest number of waking hours over the course of our working lives.

I never get that knot-in-the-stomach feeling on a Sunday night, before a Monday morning - so I welcome the day fairly early on, taking the opportunity to arrive an hour or so before the team. The kettle goes on and strong black coffee is made, before I take the opportunity to go through emails and other communications from clients, re-acquaint myself with the works-in-progress. Then I’ll catch up with the boss.

The most important aspect of my role is communication - aside from swinging spanners and screwdrivers, of course. Alex and I work exceptionally well and closely together, such that we aim to achieve the same level of success we aspire to, whether he is UK based at the time or not. Communication - a word to which we will refer repeatedly as we go on.

The morning starts with a 9 o’clock goals meeting - Jamie and I may well be underway on our respective projects by then, but it’s our first opportunity to communicate as a whole team. We discuss the work in progress, any surprises that may have cropped up in the intervening period, and it’s the perfect opportunity to raise any obstacles we may have to overcome.

We then have a visual inspection of all the cars in storage, checking over the function of the dehumidifier and heating systems.

Most cars have daily fluid leak inspections, and occasionally, where requested by a customer as part of their storage package, wheel rotations to prevent flat spots and a run up to temperature.

Challenges we may face in the workshop are wide-ranging, from acquiring rare parts for unusual vehicles that may find themselves on the critical path, to discussing the moving targets that can be presented to us on a major welding project. We’ll pool ideas on how we might best overcome said obstacles, most important is that the plan is then communicated to the client - giving you the opportunity to be part of the process, and helping manage expectations.

When we consider the resurrection of the Spectre R42, a rare supercar, we have worked closely with the client who has contacts within the fairly small community around these cars, which have been absolutely invaluable when it came to sourcing the replacement, bespoke door glass for example. Similarly, in sourcing the rear brake discs that were particular to the R42, as a team we worked with a supplier of brake discs to find a solution that would otherwise have rendered the car completely unusable.

We pride ourselves on solving the unsolvable - we’ve often been the workshop of last resort for clients facing seemingly insurmountable challenges, and it’s greatly satisfying that we’ve been able to overcome all of the challenges that have presented themselves to us in our first year.

Through tenacity, determination and engineering skill, we’ve made a real difference to the lives of cars that otherwise may have been deemed impossible to repair.

It’s unpredictable at times, this, I don’t think I’ve ever had a day or a piece of work that has gone completely according to plan. An ability for lateral thinking and creative solutions to overcome issues is a trait I inherited from my father, and refined over the years. The key is management of expectation and any effect that may have on scheduling with the client - we solve this with, yes, communication.

Raising invoices, purchasing parts, managing the team including our budding apprentice as well as broader business development contemplations all form part of the day, alongside a strong emphasis on production and working constructively in my own bay.

We wind down at the end of the day - a tidy up of all the working areas, and a short debrief. Locking up and enabling all of our state-of-the-art security measures before we head home - quite often thereafter, I’ll catch up with Alex again and discuss successes, challenges and future plans for the day.

The evening might involve a social media post, an area I’m keen to develop, and we really think in the future the Vault story ought to be told through me medium of film, and broadcast on YouTube, so you can look forward to irreverent ramblings as we move forward!

What keeps me motivated is the joy of working as a team, as part of an establishing high end operation, and the pure satisfaction that comes from working in the enthusiasts car community. Our work brings real joy to the owners of the cars we’ve been entrusted with, and it’s often not long before customers become firm friends.”