Entries for The Blend Awards 2023 have opened ahead of the highly anticipated annual conference and networking event for independent garage owners, which takes place at The Eastside Rooms in Birmingham on 7th October.
“We’re really excited about this year’s awards,” said Ray Dilsons, Managing Director of Garage Hive. “We’ll be recognising the very best of the UK’s independent garage sector, celebrating their achievements and sharing ideas over good food and drink in the company of friends and colleagues.”
The Blend Awards 2023 brings the addition of new categories, and entries can now be submitted online at https://www.theblend.events/awards for The Blend’s ‘Garage of the Year Award’ and ‘Staff Recognition Award’, both of which are open to any UK and Irish independent garage.
Completing the award categories are ‘Community Garage of the Year’, which will be determined by a Garage Hive community poll, while both the ‘Community Member of the Year’ and the ‘Garage Hive Innovator’ will be selected by Garage Hive.
“The awards are a really popular element of The Blend,” said Ray. “We’re keen for the event to appeal to a much wider audience this year and are extending the invite beyond Garage Hive users to all garage owners and operators that want to grow their business.”
The submission deadline for award applications is 31 July. Entries will be evaluated by a panel of industry judges and finalists will be announced on 30 August, with the winners being named at the event.
Organised by community-driven garage management software Garage Hive, The Blend 2023 is open to all garage owners across the UK and Ireland, with the promise of a unique opportunity to meet industry insiders and like-minded peers.
The evening dinner and awards ceremony will follow a trade show during the day and an impressive line-up of renowned industry figures presenting insightful talks, including fresh tips and advice on how to boost workshop efficiency and performance.
EAC Telford was crowned ‘The Garage’s Garage of the Year’ at The Blend 2022, and Laura Guild of Ewan Lawson Motors was named Top Garage Hive Community Contributor of the Year’, while the ‘Beta Tester of the Year’ accolade went to Fitch Autos.
Tickets for The Blend 2023 are available to book now at: https://www.theblend.events/tickets.
26 May 2023
The Penygroes Service Centre located in South Wales was founded in 2014 by Jonathan. He has extensive 17 years of experience in the industry. However, Jon found himself doing a lot of manual labour for data management to keep a finger on the pulse of the business. Therefore, joined Garage Hive's garage management software in March 2021 and has already seen a significant improvement in his garage, an increase in gross profit and has achieved a great NPS® Score.
Tom and Kayleigh runs their garage TR Autos in Yeovil, Somerset. They joined Garage Hive last year. Tom has two decades of industry experience , both practical and technician side and now business as TR Autos was founded in 2008; since then the team has grown, practices have moved away from paper diaries to garage management software, their productivity has increased and they also have moved into bigger premises.
PW Auto Repairs was founded in 2015 by Paul Whetton, who has 23 years of industry experience and has always wanted to be a technician. Diana Whetton joined and, as she said in her own words, "came as temporary help but never left!" They found and started using Garage Hive in 2020. The business now has seven staff members, including Paul and Diana.
March 2024 to June 2024 Welcome to the latest developments from Garage Hive. As we continue our mission to provide solutions for the automotive industry, we're excited to share some recent updates...
Award-winning garage management system, Garage Hive is set to unveil a groundbreaking new development which will see artificial intelligence (AI) bring newfound efficiency and customer service gains to workshops. Garage Hive Copilot, a custom-built adaption of OpenAI technology, will be showcased for the first time at the UK Garage and Bodyshop Event on June 5th and 6th.