Lawson Autotech owner Barry Lawson has transformed his business into a multi-award-winning, eight-ramp workshop, recently crowned Top Garage, after replacing cashflow-led decision making with detailed performance insight through Garage Hive.
Prior to Garage Hive, Barry acknowledges the business lacked meaningful financial visibility, despite using a different garage management system. Decisions were largely based on cash flow rather than detailed performance data, making it difficult to understand where margins were strong and where improvements were needed.
“We never had a meaningful metric that we understood,” said Barry. “It was a lot of learning on my part about what it meant to run a business. Looking back now, if we were bringing in more money than we were paying out, that was pretty much as basic as it got.”
The absence of clear metrics such as average invoice value, parts margins and gross profit meant opportunities to improve performance were easily overlooked. Implementing Garage Hive marked the beginning of a more structured, data-led approach to running the business.
Barry is open about the realities of introducing a new system, emphasising that the transition requires commitment from the entire team.
“I’ll say the same to you as I say to everybody that asks me about Garage Hive: it will bust your balls for the first three months,” he said. “It is a real transition. But if you use it properly, you’ll get so much out of it. If you try and take shortcuts, you just get red flag after red flag. It’s about using the system as it’s designed to be used.”
During the early stages, Lawson Autotech’s Business Manager, Laura Guild used the COVID-19 period to complete Garage Hive training, ensuring the workshop was ready to implement new processes effectively. Once technicians and front-of-house staff adapted to the system, the business began generating reliable performance data that could be used to guide commercial decisions.
Access to detailed reporting quickly highlighted areas for improvement. Analysis of fluid sales revealed oil margins were significantly lower than expected, prompting Barry to review pricing with his supplier and adjust the retail strategy. Oil has since become one of the workshop’s strongest revenue streams, achieving margins of around 60 per cent.
Across the wider business, the financial impact between 2020 and 2025 has been substantial, with gross profit increasing by 186 per cent, average invoice value rising by 94 per cent and parts profit growing by 175 per cent.
Live dashboards delivered through Garage Hive’s Power BI integration have also influenced daily workshop planning. By reviewing booking patterns, Barry identified a high number of standalone MOT appointments, leading the team to introduce more proactive conversations with customers when vehicles were booked in.
“It’s key that we speak to the customer and say, ‘You’re just in for an MOT, but it’s been 18 months since you last had your car serviced. Would you like a service as well?’,” he said. “You can pick up so much extra work just from having that conversation.”
Barry also credits the wider Garage Hive community with contributing to the business’s progress. The online user network provides a regular source of advice and shared learning, while The Blend, Garage Hive’s annual conference, offers opportunities to exchange ideas with other independent garage owners focused on growth.
“It’s just being in the room with the people that are really pushing the industry forward,” he said. “We bounce ideas off each other, which is really good to do.”
Reflecting on the investment, Barry believes the long-term benefits extend beyond operational improvements. “It’s accelerated us over the last few years,” he said. “If you look at it, the numbers you start to see become life-changing. You can enjoy your time off, go on nice holidays, buy nice cars. It is a life-changing tool if you use it correctly.”
For further information on how Garage Hive helps independent garages operate more profitably, visit www.garagehive.co.uk.
