One man who is not afraid of the current downturn is Cork mechanic Robert Murphy. Robert set up RDS Autos a little over two and a half years and since that date business has continued to boom; a feat he attributes to his excellent customer service, workmanship and keen pricing. This week Mary O' Keeffe talks to Robert about the decision to go it alone and what the future will mean for his company.

When the time came for Robert Murphy to decide what it was he wanted to do after school, the decision was easy. With a passion for cars and a burning desire to set up his own business, Robert knew that eventually he would run and own his own garage. The journey to this end began when Robert undertook an apprenticeship at a small garage in Cork city. Here he learned how to service and repair all makes and models of cars efficiently, effectively and most economically. "I remember on my first day the boss asked me what I knew about cars and pointed to a car and asked me to service it. As a first year apprentice I had no problem doing a timing belt or taking out engines, whereas if I had gone to another garage I might have been sweeping floors. I really gained a huge amount of experience there and by the time I had served my time as an apprentice I had gained a huge amount of different skills needed to work on different vehicles," he explained.

After completing his apprenticeship, Robert went on to work in main dealers in Cork, but, still had an appetite to go out on his own. As it stood, he was spending most of his evenings working on friends cars (and friends of friends cars ) and started seriously thinking about whether he could make a living out of this alone. " I found that I was doing a lot of jobs after work and over the years I had managed to build up quite a large customer base. I realised that I could provide the same service to clients than the main dealers at a lower price if I went out on my own because I would have less overheads and so I decided to set up RDS Autos," he said.

Two and half years ago Robert first opened up a small garage where he serviced and repaired cars and light commercials but, as business continued to flourish, he was left with little choice but to expand and so he decided to relocate to his premises on the Centre Park Road.

Today the business is continuing to grow and Robert and his apprentice work around the clock to ensure that they can deliver the best service possible to their clients, at the best price. Robert has maintained all of the key contacts he made through the years as well as adding a vast amount of new clients to his books including car rental companies, taxi firms and commercial businesses.

Robert admits that there are days when business can be very challenging, but, he loves what he does and plans on staying in business a long time to come. Looking to the future, Robert says that the motor industry is faced with many changes and challenges which he is looking forward to embrace. "Just last week I attended a lecture on changes in oil grading. The motor industry keeps changing and with all the new efforts to address emissions it will change even more," he explained. There are some aspects of the job however, that Robert says, will never change and they are his efforts to provide a truly personal service and the best value possible to his clients.

For more information contact RDS Autos on 087-1369323.

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