About On The Ramp - The Independent Automotive Garage Owners Podcast.
We have a simple mission; to connect as many independent garages as possible, with the aim of sharing knowledge and helping to raise the standards of the independent automotive industry.
This episode is sponsored by Castrol and The Race Group. To learn more about Castrol Service, please visit: https://www.castrol.com/en_gb/united-kingdom/home.html
Ross Maitland was promised training by one employer after another. Main dealers, big independents, a contract, a handshake, none of it turned into a single day on a course. At 35 he was ready to leave the trade for good.
Instead he opened Maitland Motors in Burntisland with £200 in his bank account and his mum and dad lending him the rent. Less than a year in he had nothing booked and gave himself two days before he packed it in. Ten years on he has six staff, owns the building, and has just won an award for training and development. Alex and Tim take him right back to the Yellow Pages and work forward through every garage, every broken promise, and every mistake he made on the way.
Topics covered:
- writing to 74 garages for an apprenticeship and getting two replies
- being passed over for master tech training without being asked
- a bonus scheme that punished the wrong person
- finding out he was £3 an hour under the technicians he was trying to recruit- why paying under market rate catches up with a garage
- starting a garage with £200 and no savings
- the fleet work that saved his first year- a thousand pounds a year for unlimited training, and what he did with it
- what he does differently now he employs technicians himself
Timestamps:
00:00 - intro
07:56 - writing to 74 garages for an apprenticeship
18:14 - leaving the first garage for bigger jobs
26:44 - castrol | the race group partnership
29:30 - promised master tech training, then passed over
39:46 - on £10.50 an hour and £3 under his own technicians
48:03 - the two homers that made his mind up
52:24 - starting maitland motors with £200 in the bank
59:57 - two days from packing it in
1:05:20 - a thousand pounds a year for unlimited training
1:13:37 - winning the training and development award
1:20:01 - two staff, an envelope and five rules
1:30:37 - outroSubscribe for more expert insight, honest conversation, and real stories from inside the independent garage sector.
https://beacons.ai/ontheramp
21 Aug 2026
Inside the Tuning World: Files, Agents and the Bit Nobody Talks About
This episode is sponsored by Castrol and The Race Group. To learn more about Castrol Service, please visit:
https://www.castrol.com/en_gb/united-kingdom/home.html (https://www.castrol.com/en_gb/united-kingdom/home.html)
David Simpson left school with no qualifications, got sacked from a string of McDonald's, and ended up running a tuning network with around 800 agents and manufacturing his own DPF cleaning machines. In this episode he and Sy Harraway open up a side of the trade most garage owners never see from the inside, including how tuning files are actually bought, sold and protected, and why the incoming DPF test is going to catch out a lot of cars.
If you run a workshop, send DPFs out, or have ever wondered what is really on the ECU of the car in front of you, this one is full of practical insight.
What is covered:
Diagnosing with second-hand parts instead of chasing fault codes
How master and slave tuning tools work, and why choosing a file provider matters
Manufacturers locking down ECUs, and what happens when one gets cracked
Warranty markers and how main dealers spot a remap
The DPF MOT test and what it means for mapped-out vehicles
Putting vehicles back to stock as a revenue stream
Building a DPF cleaning machine from scratch
Running a garage at 48% gross profit with one technician and an apprentice
Timestamps:
00:00 - intro
00:30 - from the army to the boot of a bmw
05:21 - the £30 ecu approach to diagnostics
09:14 - mobile to workshop, and the moonlight flit
16:16 - selling tools, and getting stung
20:25 - seven day payment terms and lending on trust
27:47 - Castrol | The Race Group Partnership
29:00 - masters, slaves and how tuning files really work
42:20 - tuning evs and locked down ecus
54:56 - the dpf mot test and stockpiling filters
57:56 - the mdf box and the machine that leaked
1:02:50 - taking manufacturing to turkey
1:07:59 - four businesses, one workshop
1:17:08 - £120,000 spent getting work for agents
1:24:27 - outro
Subscribe for more expert insight, honest conversation, and real stories from inside the independent garage sector.
https://beacons.ai/ontheramp (https://beacons.ai/ontheramp)
#ontheramp #mobilemechanic #garageowners #independentgarage #automotiveindustry #mechaniclife #ukgarages #trades #automotive #castrol #remapping #dpf #diagnostics
31 Jul 2026
What It's Really Like Taking Over the Family Garage at 24
This episode is sponsored by Castrol and The Race Group. To learn more about Castrol Service, please visit:
https://www.castrol.com/en_gb/united-kingdom/home.html
Marc is 25 and runs Magnet Autos in Liverpool, a third generation family garage his granddad started in 1978 after accidentally buying the wrong building at auction. He came into the business straight out of school after six months at home, took over in October 2023 when his dad stepped back to care for his granddad, and was made managing director just under two years later. Turnover has roughly doubled in three years.
Tim Guidotti joins Alex on co-hosting duty for the first time, so there is a proper fleet conversation in here too: fleet versus retail margins, auto authorisation on the platforms, high spend reviews and de-fleeting, and why six technicians can run on one service advisor.
If you run an independent garage or you are heading into a family business handover, this one is honest about the parts that go wrong as well as the parts that work.
Topics covered:
Coming into the family business out of school and starting in the back office
How Magnet bought its way into fleet in 2004
Taking over in October 2023 when his dad stepped back
Going from mate to boss, and the hire he regrets letting go
Turning away the busy fools and £4,000 to £5,000 a week of turnover
Fleet versus retail: margins, authorisation and high spend reviews
Splitting workshop control from the front desk
The five year plan, ramps, and why he is not opening a second site
Timestamps:
00:00 - intro
01:44 - leaving school and the six months at home
07:29 - how magnet got into fleet in 2004
13:15 - the dip and taking over in October 2023
19:18 - the sultan of brunei cars
23:06 - Castrol | The Race Group Partnership
24:26 - the setup, the staff and buying the wrong building
33:02 - fleet versus retail margins and authorisation
39:15 - the numbers and turning away the busy fools
46:27 - becoming managing director
52:46 - the five year plan and adding ramps
59:36 - outro
Subscribe for more expert insight, honest conversation, and real stories from inside the independent garage sector.
https://beacons.ai/ontheramp
#garageowners #independentgarage #automotiveindustry #mechaniclife #ukgarages #trades #automotive #castrol #fleet #familybusiness #ontheramp
Who has been a guest on On The Ramp - The Independent Automotive Garage Owners Podcast.
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Louise Baker
Chay
Lee Schofield
Cathal
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
263,441
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Spotify
5.0 / 5
46 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 69 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
83
Social presence
0
YouTube
86
Engagement
51
Contact On The Ramp - The Independent Automotive Garage Owners Podcast.
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