ATS recruiting to meet growing SMR demand

ATS Euromaster has experienced a significant increase in the volume of service, maintenance and repair (SMR) work it is now completing, with work on brake changes up 27 per cent, commercial vehicle servicing up 41 per cent and the number of MOTs completed increasing by eight per cent. The tyre and maintenance provider believes a combination of factors is behind the increased SMR workload, and in response, it is hiring new staff and further training the existing ATS workforce.

The most recent BVRLA Outlook Survey suggests that despite the increased availability of new cars and vans for fleets, ageing fleets – a hangover of the lack of new vehicle availability –  Meanwhile, ATS has seen greater demand for Class 7 MOTs as the number of vans servicing dotcom deliveries increases, while a more planned fleet management approach to SMR is seeing vans that require new tyres also being requested to carry out pre-MOT vehicle health inspections to spotlight potential issues in advance.

Mark Holland, operations director at ATS Euromaster, points to a further reason – a reduced number of SMR providers. “Following the announcement that one of the UK’s largest fleet management companies lost a major telecom utility customer, the company has announced a major restructure with 48 of its garages closing. Along with other providers in the market also closing service branches, this has substantially reduced the number of market suppliers of which we look to be a partial beneficiary.” In July, Rivus announced it would begin a restructuring of its LCV operation from 30 September 2023, the day after its customer partnership with BT expires. This restructuring will result in the closure of 48 of its LCV garages.

Training & hiring

Holland shares that ATS business has been “busily undertaking increased staff training,” with 49 per cent of all its maintenance workforce now trained to work on electric vehicles. By the end of the year, the company expects this figure to be 85 per cent of its workshop staff.

“As a result of the increased SMR work going through our workshops, we are busy recruiting new technicians to join our business.

“We have an internal training programme called Safe Systems of Work, which all new starters attend which is also accompanied by level 1 EV and hybrid training. It provides the groundwork for technicians to carry out the majority of tasks that fleets require before they progress to level 2 standard. It means we will be able to maintain the increasing demand for fleet SMR going through our workshops.”