HEADLINE NEWS: ATA ACCREDITATION PROVES PROFITABLE FOR GARAGES

ATA accredited training for automotive technicians could give garages up to a 187% return on their investment.

That’s according to the IMI which, together with Allparts Automotive, Halfords Autocentres and Mercedes Benz, commissioned research into the positive effects the training would have on garages.

The results showed a minimum return on investment of 98%, and up to 187%.

The research covered ATA accredited courses in a range of disciplines including parts advising, light vehicle maintenance and repair, and customer service.

The garages taking part reported raised technical standards across the board, as well as increased productivity, profitability and customer confidence.

Allparts Automotive, which opened its own dedicated training centre in 2009, found a significant drop in the number of returned parts through 2010 which gave an eventual return on investment of 136%.

Similarly, Halfords benefited enormously from the training revealing that for every £1 invested in ATA training in the first year, it returned profit of over £2 to the company. They found that technicians who had ATA accreditation returned 7% more profit to the company than their non-ATA counterparts.

The study partner for the customer service section of the course was Mercedes Benz. The manufacturer noted a significant correlation between improvements in the Customer Satisfaction Index and the uptake of ATA training at the company’s after sales network.

Simon Barry, a Mercedes Benz dealership manager from Cardiff said: “It gives us credibility with customers and shows that we are willing and able to train our staff to the highest levels and ATA is the tangible evidence to support that. It helps us with our training process and to prepare staff to deal with our customers’ needs.”

Sarah Sillars, executive chair of the IMI, said: “Accreditation has brought about a step change in the automotive sector’s attitudes to qualifications and skills. It has provided significant returns to both the employer, in terms of return on investment, but more importantly, to employees for their self-esteem, professional development and long term career path.

It also continues to improve customer confidence in the industry. This is absolutely vital when competition is so fierce and many businesses are struggling to survive in the market place.”

She urged all garages to seriously consider taking on more training for their technicians, saying that it helps to raise customer confidence in the automotive industry.