Garage boss in fast lane calls in female version of the Stig
A salesman once told Tracy Hollis an Italian car could not be fixed as well by British tools as it could be by Italian.
A salesman once told Tracy Hollis an Italian car could not be fixed as well by British tools as it could be by Italian.In response, Tracy handed him her business card and walked away... because Tracy is a partner in Hollis & Brown Autotech Ltd, a garage, based in Frognall near Market Deeping.
This incident was just one in a long line of others which triggered Tracy into action. She is now determined to stamp out chauvinism in the industry she loves.
"I may be blonde, but I am not stupid," Tracy joked.
"This is a male dominated industry, but I think it is time for men to realise they should stop patronising women.
"Many of us know about cars and if we don't we still know when we are being lied to or treated like idiots.
"Speaking to my friends too, they often say they feel intimidated about going to get their car serviced or repaired, and I think this is really sad. I want to try to do something to put an end to this."
Tracy has now teamed up with "Stigette" - a female version of Top Gear's Stig (her identity is a closely guarded secret) – to challenge car dealerships in allowing her to test drive their cars. She will then write reviews about them from a woman's point of view.
"Women do think about cars differently from men," Tracy said.
"For example we might look at how easy it is to get our kids' car seats in the back, whether there is enough boot space for our shopping, how safe we feel in the car, how attractive it is on the inside and out, whether we can paint our nails while we are a passenger etc
"I am hoping people will respond to the Stigette's reviews and add their own comment too, so it will become a place women can trust, a place they can use to find out about the cars they may want to buy."
Tracy has always been interested in cars, so when her husband, Neal, set up a small mobile car repair business in 2000, it made sense for Tracy to help him.
The business went from strength to strength, and eventually Neal then teamed up with his friend Nathan Brown and set up Hollis & Brown.
Tracy basically oversees the whole business doing everything from greeting customers at the front desk, ringing suppliers to order parts, driving cars to pick customers up or take them home, to organising staff holiday time, sick leave etc.
Hollis & Brown can do anything from MoTs to complete engine rebuilds. It does a lot of work for the motor trade and has a contract with Peterborough City Council to repair its vans.
"We are specialists in our fields and have some of the top mechanics in the area working for us," Tracy said.
"I love my job, but I am determined to do more to help educate the men who work within the industry to not take women for a ride by bamboozling them with jargon."
To view the Stigette's blog visit the Hollis & Brown website (www.hollisandbrown.co.uk) and find out what she has to say about the cars she has tested.
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Friday 19 March 2010
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