Leamington garage closes after 105 years of service

[dutchman]

An asset to any business...that’s how garage manager Ron Wood describes his workforce.


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And 83-year-old Ron (pictured far right) should know a good worker when he sees one.

When he locked up the garage and showrooms of Midland Autocar in Russell Street yesterday (Friday), he had completed almost 70 years with the same company. Sadly, the business which was established in 1906 by the Gibbs family - almost at the dawn of motoring - is closing due to the current economic conditions, meaning all ten staff, including Ron, are now redundant.

Ron says: “Personally, of course, I’m not too worried about getting another job - I was lucky to be able to stay on as long as I have. But the mechanics, car valets, parts managers and office workers here are a first-class team and would be an asset to any business.”

The oldest part of the garage, which adjoins the more modern car showroom, is based in a former horse hospital where a clock from the original stables is still on the wall.

Ron recalls: “I started here as a 14-year-old apprentice mechanic in 1942 and it was one of my jobs was to wind up that clock.

“I enjoyed repairing cars but after completing my training I moved on to the office side, working for John Gibbs before the family sold the business and I became general manager in 1962.

“The only break was when I was called up to do my National Service, just after the war when I was in the Army of Occupation in Japan.”

In recent years the 105-year-old business was owned by the Nutt and Niven families who do not live locally and felt the time had come to close. Even so Ron is reluctant to head off to his potting shed.

During the 1920s the garage was a Ford agent serving three counties. Later it moved on to sell and service Daimlers and Standard cars, then Rovers and Triumphs and, up to two years ago, Daihatsus, before trade started to dwindle.