Autowerke Garage: Pride of London

Ala (Al) Miah was expected to become a doctor, lawyer or accountant, and nothing else, by his parents.

To some extent, he fulfilled their hopes, spending 15 years working in London’s financial district building up a successful career.

This was before a chance meeting ten years ago which saw Al buy an independent garage, Autowerke, and swap spreadsheets for spanners, to run a business in the automotive aftermarket for the first time.

“My friend was taking his car to get it repaired and when I arrived at the garage, the owner would not stop moaning about the industry, drivers and the UK in general. The next day I turned up and bought the business from hom, leaving behind my accounting career there and then.”

Having spent time working in a garage for £20 a day as a young man, Al had some experience working on cars, but nothing quite prepared him for running his own garage.

“People didn’t trust me at all,” he recollects. “That’s the nature of the business. I was also paying thousands of pounds for advertising but that wasn’t as effective as I would have hoped.”

The industry was new to Al, but his understanding of people and the basic principles of customer service has enabled Autowerke to flourish.

“I treat every single one of my customers like a friend and show them exactly what will happen during the time their car is in my garage for a repair,” he explained. “Over the years, the trust has been built up and the business is doing really well thanks to the hard work of the team and our belief in doing things properly.”

Autowerke is one of thousands of independent garages that are also members of the WhoCanFixMyCar network. 

The garage has won hundreds of jobs since joining WhoCanFixMyCar and carries an impressive 4.8* rating from drivers.

“WhoCanFixMyCar is a brilliant tool for garages to find business as it is so easy to use and there are so many drivers looking for garages online. It allows me the opportunity to get my business out there while showcasing my reputation with the reviews left on my profile page.”

With an ever-expanding reputation as one of the most successful garages in London on WhoCanFixMyCar, Al is proving that it doesn’t matter what your background is (or what your parents think!) with hard work and the right attitude, anything is possible.