Straightset upgrades Helensburgh Toyota’s Workshop

At the start of 2023, Toyota GB approached Straightset with a challenge: take an old but high-performing dealership in Scotland and completely overhaul its equipment and workshop space to create a service fit for the future.

Helensburgh sits on the Firth of Clyde, near Dumbarton, and its Toyota garage has faithfully served the community for some 45 years. However, it was looking dated, with poor use of space, uneven floors and tired staff facilities. The time had come for a major makeover.

Leading garage equipment expert Straightset accepted the challenge to bring the site, which comprised of only one MOT bay and four service bays, completely up to date. It had to maximise the site’s capacity and bring it in line with Toyota’s new workshop standards.

After a site visit in early 2023 to scope out the work, the planning phase began. The proposed design alterations, including eliminating an outdated team room and implementing a new inner wall, were set to transform the workshop’s aesthetics.

Andrew Bates, Straightset’s sales director, spearheaded the project: “On meeting the owners and management of the dealership, it became very apparent that they were ready to embrace change and to gain the improvement in capacity that the garage needed. However, it would not be an easy or quick transformation; it entailed the workshop having to close for four months while the floors were replaced to allow two different floor levels to be merged into one. This was then topped with a fill-pour resin screed and a high build resin floor finish.”

Straightset recommended specialists Conren Resin Flooring for the work, which included layout markings for equipment placement that ensured enhanced safety and full compliance with Toyota GB’s new standards.

Straightset facilitated the complete integration of all essential workshop upgrades, which included seven new ramps, a connected MOT setup, and a specialized 4.5T 2-poster ramp, which is designed for use with heavy electric vehicles.

Completed with a drive-through wheel alignment checker, promised quick alignment checks for every incoming vehicle, potentially boosting alignment service sales. Additionally, relocating the compressor and oil tanks optimized space utilization, and created a clean and efficient workspace.

The new workshop officially opened on 13 December 2023 and Aftersales Manager, Tim Roome at Helensburgh Toyota, said: “I would highly recommend Straightset, and trust in their vision. When it all began, we could not imagine the finished article, and it is through them we have realised this workshop.”