Recalculating…

Several years ago, during the winter, I was trying to get back from Hull and many of the roads were so flooded they were impassable. It was just before this journey that we as a family decided to get a SatNav, thankfully before and not after! As I approached one road after another but still heading South, the roads were blocked so I had to divert and take another route, causing the SatNav to recalculate the route and we tried again. The total journey that usually took between 4-5 hours actually took 10 hours!

The SatNav managed to save me many hours on my business travels, but also on family holidays. As with most inanimate objects used by our family, SatNav was quickly given a name, Jane. We had many adventures with her, but a few have stuck with me - the ones that caused the most stress mostly!

I recall one particular holiday in Pembrokeshire with my wife, our youngest daughter and our German Shepherd Beulah. We found a beautiful beach, Cwm-Yr-Eglwys, and as it was quite late in the day, we decided to have Jane save the location as a ‘favourite’, meaning that no matter what angle we were approaching on another day, we would be able to find it again - perfect!

A few days later we decided to make a day of going to Cwm-Yr-Eglwys. As we were getting closer to the beach, Jane took us down a road that looked like a nice little shortcut through the pretty Welsh countryside. Living in rural Wiltshire, we were quite used to narrow lanes that usually open up into larger lanes, however I was a little concerned when we came across grass growing in the middle of the road. As we headed further along it, the trees got thicker overhead and the verges were closing in on us with rocks sticking out in places - not just soft grass and ferns! After coming so far, I decided it was best to keep going forwards slowly rather than risk attempting to reverse all the way back up to the main road.

The only way forward was for us to each open our windows, the road was too narrow to open the doors, and check a couple of feet ahead to see if the S Type would be able to move forward without causing damage. When I received the all clear, I moved the car another 2 feet, then we each checked again and continued until we were past that stretch.

The next hurdle was a hairpin bend which, when I was negotiating it we noticed some walkers who seemed to watch us with disbelief. As I continued to work my way round the bend so to speak, I called out to them that we were on a ‘Top Gear’ challenge!

Amazingly, we came across a house with a nice couple who told us the best form of transport in that area was, surprise surprise, boat or a very small car! They explained that Cwm-Yr-Eglwys was in fact not reachable on that road. It would come to a dead end just before the beach! Thankfully, before the dead end, there was a turning onto another road that would get us back to the main road and we could get to the beach on the original road we'd used a few days earlier. No need to reverse up that road! 

We did eventually reach Cwm-Yr-Eglwys, which Beulah enjoyed enormously after being cooped up on the back seat of the Jaguar next to our daughter for a long time. 

After many family holidays with a few similar, though not quite as bad, experiences and a German Shepherd, our S Type survived and has since been lovingly cleaned, polished and thoroughly vacuumed throughout. She is now enjoying her retirement as a wedding car!

Why Jaguar?

On my travels and at the networking meetings I attend, I am often asked why I chose Jaguars. When I purchased our first Jaguar 11 years ago, I was working within a global corporate company and previously owned a Vauxhall Omega.

At the time when we needed to change our family car, which was also used to travel for work, Vauxhall no longer manufactured Omegas and didn’t produce anything near the size that we had become used to. So, having driven Vauxhalls for many years, I had to go on the search and test drive many different cars.

When I was being chauffeur driven for the corporate job I was often in BMW or Mercedes Benz, and although they are the normal chauffeur cars, they were not quite what I was looking for.

We first tried Volvo, Ford, VW, Audi and Jaguar. To be honest although the most comfortable we drove was the Jaguar X Type, we thought that there was just no way we could either afford one or would feel too embarrassed owning one being that Jaguars, were usually regarded as for the super rich when I was growing up!

We also test drove a Saab, but even that was not comfortable enough for us - we were beginning to run out of options and really, my heart was set on buying a British car.

So we went back to the garage to see what deals could be done, and Grange Jaguar at Swindon did not disappoint! We soon surprised ourselves in buying the 2005 Jaguar X Type 2.0 V6 SE in deep Pacific Blue.

The day we brought the X Type back with our faithful Omega besides

Now, the timing of this purchase was critical not only for us, but also a couple who we were due to provide a wedding car for. They expected to be using the Omega when they asked us. 

I placed the order for the X Type and while at the garage, I made a phone call to them saying something like this…. ‘Hello, it’s Dave. You know we are providing your wedding car, well we have just sold it and we no longer have it……….. instead we will be picking up a Jaguar X Type the week before your wedding - would you like that instead??’

The answer was just as we hoped for, but even better… it went something like this…. ‘That is just amazing, what an incredible treat and surprise, my fiancé has always dreamt of having a Jaguar for his wedding. Thank you so much Dave’

Our Jaguar prepared for the first big cat wedding!

One of the biggest pleasures was not only doing several weddings, as well as for our 2 oldest daughters’ weddings, but also taking my father out for a drive. He had always loved the Jaguar brand but was never able to own one even though he owned with his brother, my Uncle Gordon, a garage that sold new British cars and used cars for many brands.

That car served us well as a family car as well as for business and weddings until we part exchanged it in May 2009 for another big cat. Our long term relationship with Jaguar as a brand was developing! 

Aconite Mini and Floppy disks

In last weeks blog, I mentioned about producing the month end accounts and managing the forecourt at my father’s garage business. This was a time of my life when I first started to learn about hard work and making sacrifices for the family business.

Customer care was paramount when I was serving behind the till and was also required when going out to help the customer with checking the tyres, filling up with oil and fuel. I also had to deal with enquiries directly from customers related to products that we sold out of the small shop. Those were the days when we were taught that the ‘customer was always right’, and I believe this attitude has continued with me to this day.

Sometimes it was a struggle to remain polite, especially with some customers, who had never got used to the fact that automation and self service was here to stay. Often with them, it was a case of going the extra mile to meet their demands, but customer satisfaction was key to the success of the business.

Back then, I learnt to deal with cash and to give the correct change worked out manually, my strength in maths was helpful for this! That was until more and more people were starting to use credit cards, which meant we were then using a machine similar to the one below - much bigger that the machines we use today!

Around this time of our lives, just before myself and my wife were married ourselves, we often attended weddings for friends. I can remember my first duty as a wedding car provider for a friend, I had no idea that I would one day actually be a professional chauffeur! Believe it or not, I was dressed in a bright green suit and used my Mini shown below, to transport 3 bridesmaids. We had an impossible deadline to get through the city of Bath, but we got there and so my first wedding chauffeur experience was done. You may even be able to notice my green waistcoat and my fiancé by my side, who I had to leave at the church whilst I went off to collect the bridesmaids.

The same Mini was originally green but when I took it over I did some small modifications and painted it an aconite colour, using the facilities of the Paint Shop in the garage. I can remember taking that car on many trips to Cheddar, Somerset and have to admit I was not as diligent on keeping the speed limits as I have now been for many years. Guess that made me a boy racer in my youth!

Thinking again about my ‘garage’ days, the time had come to consider computerising the accounts and after much persuasion and investigation, I managed to convince my father and uncle that they needed a computer. Eventually they invested in an Apricot Computer much like the library picture below found on this link:

After many long days and nights, I finally transitioned all the accounts and management reports to the computer. The 3 1/2 " floppy disk was an incredible invention, it stored so much information… Or did it?

Anyway, thats it for this week folks.

From coaches to elbow grease and sky hooks!

I would like to tell you a few more stories of the early days of just before my time, my childhood and growing up within the family business.

My father’s long distance driving really started in the 1940-50’s with the coach business known as Dauntsey Vale Coaches, which was then run as part of Barnes & Sons started by my grandfather which preceded the G & K Barnes Ltd business, where they operated several coaches as shown below. This was before my time, so all I have are a few photos now, but it helps me appreciate that the care I show my clients has its roots in my father to whom I owe a lot.

Fast forwarding several years, G & K Barnes Ltd also provided an RAC Recovery service for drivers that had broken down and needed transport with their vehicle to anywhere in Britain. Mostly Dad provided the service and we would often receive a phone call any time day or night with my Mother packing Dad up with provisions for a long journey ahead.

This service was initially using the Austin Westminster (Westie) and trailer and then later with the Range Rover (Rangey) as shown below with Dad.

On a few of these journeys during the late 1960’s and early 70’s, I had the opportunity to go along with Dad provided I did what I was told and it did not interrupt with my schooling. This was really exciting to me as a child and bearing in mind there was no ‘Sat-Nav’ as we call it, so we had to use a map and compass. It was during these trips that I learnt through Dad, how to navigate using these tools. It is so much easier these days!

Amazingly, during the late 1970s, Dad was able to stay in contact with our base via the latest technology called a mobile cellphone, as example is shown below - it looked much like a brick, although this is a photo off google and not by Dad! The below photo and more details on mobile phone history are available through this external link

I mentioned during my last blog that I used to frequently wander down to the garage as it was next door but one, to our family home. One of the ways I helped, was to fetch parts and tools for the mechanics occasionally from the Parts Department. On a few of these occasions I can remember Ray in the Workshop telling me to ask Godfrey for a ‘sky hook’, and when I asked him, Godfrey responded with the reassuring ‘I think you’ve been had Master Barnes’. On another occasion, Ken in the Bodyshop told me to ask Godfrey for some ‘elbow grease’. You can guess what Godfrey said - I soon caught onto questioning more what I was being asked for - a good lesson for a 7 year old to learn!

I hope I am a bit wiser these days! Anyway that’s it for this week folks.

How did this happen?

This being my initial blog, is to start a series that helps you to understand where I come from and how this passion to drive came about. I hope you enjoy reading this and that it gives you an insight into what ‘drives’ me, excuse the pun! 

Born in 1959, I was brought up my by parents in the little village of Dauntsey Lock, near Lyneham and was one of 5 children, 1 brother and 3 sisters. My father Kenneth and his brother, my uncle Gordon ran a garage business G & K Barnes Ltd in the village, which later expanded to having a garage at nearby Lyneham. So straight away you will appreciate that I grew up with cars very much being in the family and that my parents ran a family business.

As I grew older, I used to spend a lot of time at the garage, and indeed used to serve customers on the pumps where I was often told ‘fill her up with 4 star please’. In those days there was no self service, and an attendant would fill your car with petrol, check the oil and water and wash your windscreen for you as part of the service. That attendant at times was me, even though I was only a lad. 

The customer would pay me the amount I told him and I would then take the cash to the till to ring it in, going back out to the car to give him any change. My mother also worked at the garage as well as being a full time mum to us all. Mum would ‘cash up’ at the end of the shifts and balance the till as it was called. She also prepared the accounts with my father.

Eventually in the 1970’s automation started to creep in and our garage installed with BP what was called a 'note acceptor'. This meant that after hours when the garage was closed, we could let customers serve themselves petrol once they have inserted the cash amount of petrol they wanted. For this, they would have to insert a valid cash note into a tray which the machine would accept, that then released the pump for them to dispense the petrol into their tank.

This idea of serving yourself was quite slow to catch on at first and I can recall a customer at some point having tried to insert a £5 note into the door crack instead of the notes tray and shouting to the machine to actually put the fuel into his tank. I am still not sure whether he expected the pump nozzle to move itself into his fuel tank or not - it was quite funny at the time!!

As you can imagine there are more stories like this that I could share, but growing up in a family business taught me that customer care was always paramount in building a business, which is something we as a family now, pay particular attention to with every client we have.

I hope you enjoy reading this very short initial blog as I hope to add more contents over the coming weeks on this first series. I also have other ideas for future series but I will leave that for later.