The power of partnerships in protecting the future of the independent aftermarket

Date: Thursday 20 June 2024

---

Andy Southby, Chief Commercial Officer at LKQ UK & Ireland, reflects on the power of partner eco-systems in driving success in the aftermarket, after [last week’s] UK Garage and Bodyshop Event.

Events like last week’s UK Garage and Bodyshop Event are incredibly valuable to our industry.

It was brilliant to see so many familiar faces and to make new connections, with 5,000 garage and bodyshop professionals joined under one roof to set the agenda for the future of the aftermarket.

UKGBE serves to remind us just how important it is to connect, collaborate and to ultimately work in partnership.

The independent aftermarket has changed significantly in recent years and the pace of change isn’t slowing down.

Partnerships are key to driving innovation and opportunity - ensuring that we are future-proofing the aftermarket in the coming years.

Creating an eco-system culture

Garage and bodyshop technicians are at the coalface of the industry, delivering the service that we’re all working towards: keeping the UK’s motorists moving.

As a distributor, we have a responsibility to work in partnership with our customers to help them deliver the reliability, trust and convenience their customers expect. We know well that if we help them to thrive, we thrive with them.

But to do this successfully, we must also be part of a wider eco-system including suppliers, partners, trade bodies, customers etc to offer the solutions and innovations end-customers require moving forward.

It’s also crucial that we’re working with specialist advisers and suppliers in sustainability, disruptive technology, and training – and to leverage the scale of our business in connecting customers to innovations in these areas. This forms a key part in helping the sector to advance.

Skills is central to future opportunities

Skills represents an excellent example of where the aftermarket must join forces to address its future needs. The industry has one of the highest vacancy rates in the UK, with 24,000 positions to be filled.

Sales of used electric vehicles have also almost doubled in the space of a year, according to SMMT data. And while the headlines hint at a slowdown in new EV sales, the underlying shift towards plug-ins is clear to see. So, it’s increasingly crucial for the sector to be investing in the skills to capture this growing market. It’s estimated that 22% of technicians in the UK are EV qualified, and we’ll need an extra 185,000 of them by 2035.

It’s also true that not all garages have the equipment or expertise required to conduct comprehensive ADAS checks. ADAS could soon be included in MOT testing, subject to an ongoing DVSA consultation, meaning skills in this area could become a commercial necessity. Almost half of all cars are expected to have ADAS technology by 2030, but only 2% of the UK’s technicians have the relevant skills.

The investment required in skills and equipment is not insignificant at a time when the cost of doing business remains high.

As part of our partnership approach with customers, we’re expanding the LKQ Academy to help professionals get the right skills when and where they need it. We invest all proceeds from the LKQ Academy back into our training, which means all of our are courses part-funded to help the sector to access the skills they need for long-term success.

Providing training under the LKQ Academy forms a key part of our broader partnerships with customers like Protyre, which we’re supporting by helping it to grow and become more sustainable.

We’re also leveraging partnerships in the delivery of our training. It was great to be joined at UKGBE by The Garage Inspector Andy Savva, who we’ve recently partnered with to deliver garage management training to customers, helping to equip professionals with the tools and knowledge they need to thrive.

Forming ecosystems between customers and other specialists like this will be key in creating the skills needed to meet our future challenges, like the EV transition and as cars become more high-tech.

Working together

No single garage, retailer, distributor or parts manufacturer can solve the challenges or meet the opportunities that the sector faces alone.

Events like last week’s, and the help of organisations like the IAAF, are brilliant for us to convene and forge partnerships that will define our success.

We’re already looking forward to UKGBE 2026, and what exciting new partnerships it may bring.

---