13 Years at FixMyCar: An Interview with James Preston

James Preston, FixMyCar’s Customer Care Manager and longest-serving team member, is celebrating an impressive 13 years with the company. To mark the milestone, we asked James to reflect on his journey and share how he and FixMyCar have grown during this time. 

Can you tell us a bit about your FixMyCar story?

I moved to Newcastle 13 years ago when we first launched the business, and we had a tiny office above Revolution on Collingwood Street. There were four of us, and it slowly grew. We were fortunate because, at the time, there were no strong competitors.  

The early days were hard, as we needed to recruit garages to join, as well as getting drivers to post jobs on the website. Garages weren’t going to pay to use the platform without traffic.

It’s been an amazing journey. I’ve held various roles throughout my time with the company, but I most enjoy speaking to people about what they think of the platform and how we can improve it. 

Is there a standout moment you can think of?

There are two. The first one, I will probably say the third FixMyCar Awards (known then as the Garage Awards). There were a couple of hundred people, and it was an amazing evening. It was the first time that I really thought we’d made it as a company. Everyone who was there looked so happy, a proper industry evening.   

The second one, which is a bit of fun, was when Jeremy Clarkson posted a tweet saying you could try using WhoCanFixMyCar to get your car repaired. He was cautious with the way he worded it, so he wouldn’t get into trouble for advertising without declaring. It was a nice bit of publicity. 

What does the driver network team do, and how has it evolved over the years?

When a user posts a job on the website, they often call one of our garages, book with them over the phone, but forget to click the ‘Choose garage’ button on the website. In such cases, the DNT team will call them to join up the dots.   

The role was an experiment at first. We knew drivers were using our garages, but we didn’t know how to prove it.

What do you hope FixMyCar will achieve in the near future?

I hope the business continues to thrive and becomes a household name. 

Finally, what's a fun fact about you?

Very random, but I once had to look after The Cheeky Girls for a show on TV!