An independent garage in Oban, Scotland, is gearing up for expansion after its new website tripled work enquiries in less than nine months.

As a result, Morrison Motor Repairs is now investing in a large workshop extension which will house a brand new MOT station, scheduled to open in April ’22.

The garage’s growth is evident across every area of the business from car servicing to repairs. Even more notably, its vehicle hire side has expanded massively. Morrison’s fleet has grown six-fold and with 70 vehicles now out on hire at any one time, there are plans to increase this further by expanding the garage’s online presence yet again.

Owner, Stewart Morrison, who set the garage up six years ago said: “To say I’ve been surprised by the massive increase in enquires is an understatement. We convert 90 percent of them into business and the remaining 10 percent are enquiries we choose to turn away.

“It’s made a huge difference to the business and how I run it. By having so many enquiries, we decide what business works for us and filter out that which doesn’t. From a business growth point of view, it’s a great position to be in.”

Stewart says the return on investment from the website is evident and easy to track. He sees exactly where the enquiries come from, what they cost him and how they translate not just into sales, but into loyal returning customers.

“I’d been putting off getting our website sorted,” he continued, “but I needn’t have. With Garage Services Online it literally took an hour of my life to set the whole thing up and they took care of the rest.

“It not only covers its own cost ten times over, it’s enabled me to extend the garage, expand into MOTs and grow the hire fleet.

“Plans are now in place to expand our current website which will further drive the hire side of the business. It’s a tried and tested investment so in another nine months, who knows what size our fleet will be.”

Jim Lang, founder at Garage Services Online said: “Morrison Motor Repairs’ website works so well because it goes way beyond the standard independent garage website offering.

“Traditionally, these are six page websites which give a presence, look okay but don’t add any value to the garage’s business.

“We believe independent garages deserve better. There’s huge growth potential in the sector and by providing affordable websites, we give them the key to achieve it.”