No no, I’ve not wet the bed – just been waiting for Farage’s odds to tumble but with Starmer doing a worse job then I in the comms department that seems unlikely!
Maybe the UK’s Trump moment is nigh after all… Farage or ChatGPT for PM next?
As many of you know I love a bit of positivity and speaking with so many of you each day, I do pick up the general vibe, with one owner saying to me recently, “I don’t care what Labour throw at me – I will do better!” Yes, that one stuck with me.
While on the subject of speaking with you all, I am definitely seeing an increased level of interest on the investment side of things which carries its pros and cons. Bar the obvious, more demand and less supply of our over engineered golden ears cars, the cons are out weighing it for me.
It used to be, “I bought it ‘cos I love it”. It now seems to be evolving to, “What do I think will go up in value next?” Don’t get me wrong, if you can combine the two it’s a win wiw but let’s not forget the simple thill of ownership and driving as the P1’s. I mean, most of the classics drive terribly anyway! Take my Louts Carlton for example 🤦🏻♂️
On from there we launched a few new internal initiatives early this year, a team project car which is being led by Hayden being the most exciting – look out for more on that via our socials as it comes to life, literally.
More formally, we also all signed a 10-point Pledge to each GQ owner and the service we offer you – an ask us anything approach to you and your car life. Many of you I hope are already experiencing it with all your comings and goings across, Service, Repair, Detailing, Restoration and now Sales of course.
Speaking of Sales – this was an exciting part of our growth last year, not necessarily from a financial point of view but more from a trust perspective. Many of you will know that sales wasn’t an area I wanted to move into for ‘salesy’ reasons. But with so many incredible examples coupled with the trust earnt on both sides it has swiftly become an absolute no brainer – why would one go elsewhere when the car is already here with cars changing hands off market over coffee.
So, if any of you are thinking of selling or currently looking for something interesting do reach out – I would love to hear from you and support your adventures this year. In the meantime, here are some of your other fellow GQ owners doing the same.
On the other, much slower side of things is the restoration part of the business – and 14 months later we finally finished the underside restoration of an E34 M5. What an incredible project with even more astonishing results. Read more on that right here.
And if all of that wasn’t enough we even found time to open GQ Braintree! A product of the GQ alumni this ex GQ-er enjoyed his experience with us so much he decided to buy-in via our Area Partnership scheme.
I must also take some time to share my thanks to those of you who recommended us to your friends and family – being on the cold face of calls can be tiring and without getting too deep, slightly lonely at times. However, it struck me at Christmas, I’m not actually alone! You awesome lot have been telling people about us in your droves and now half my calls have an instantly friendly dynamic. So, thank you!
I know you are not doing it for money but in recognition I do wish to share my appreciation by offering up to £1,000 for a successful introduction. Some of you have been using it as discount or as simple service and repair credit for your alloy refurbs or annual service. So, thank you again for all of the kind words you must be using out there – it really isn’t going unnoticed 🙏🏻
With organic growth in mind, for anyone wanting to go one step further in support of us below is a list of the little big things that can really add up – following, liking, sharing, commenting, Google reviewing etc. they all go a long way so here is a page covering all that jargon!
For those of you still reading, I’ll start wrapping up now by sharing my latest listens and late night viewings. Starting with the Chris Harris and friends’ Podcast still remaining a top weekly hit. You’ll be pleased to hear that the watch list is equally cool but much shorter with Supercar Driver’s NA Heros | Class of 2010 and Hegarty’s E36 V8 spot with Mr Catchpole topping the list since we last caught up.
So, with my CS now gone the current take-away car at home is the black rat, again. Seems I too will be keeping an eye on the owners cars for sale ahead of Spring. That is providing Labour, Farage or ChatGPT don’t mess things up!
Here’s to a positive 2026 for each and every one of us - let’s spread it around.
Tim and your GQ Crew.
