Exciting changes

Garage Watch continues to be the magazine for the independent forecourt industry, written by people from within the industry, but Garage Watch readers will be seeing some exciting changes over the next few issues. The first and most important change is that we are now publishing Garage Watch every month. This is because our readers see Garage Watch as an integral part of their industry but the question asked most frequently is: “Why don’t you publish more frequently?”
Well we have great news for you because now you will be able to read your favourite trade magazine every month!
Mark Bradshaw, the editor, has joined forces with Partnership Publishing to re-launch and rebrand Garage Watch in line with the demands of an ever changing commercial landscape.
Partnership Publishing is one of the UK’s foremost publishers in the automotive industry. They publish a UK market leading magazine for the vehicle recovery industry and an equally successful magazine for the independent garage aftermarket sector.
Mark and Dave Gregory, managing editor of Partnership Publishing, will be combining their skills to make Garage Watch a more dynamic and a absorbing read, but they will also be faithful to the objectives of Garage Watch which has always been to support the independent forecourt trader.
Garage Watch will continue to bring you features and news on the key industry focuses. We will be looking at the profit opportunities for the independent forecourt trader. The convenience store element is what has been the salvation of the industry and we will continue to point our readers in the right direction in maximising their profit lines.
But Garage Watch is going to be bigger and better, allowing us to introduce other elements to the editorial content of the magazine. Up until now Garage Watch has been a 28-page magazine but in future it will be a bumper 48-pages with new designs and new editorial structure. We will interview garage forecourts up and down the country and see how they maximise their forecourt usage to bring optimum returns.
We will look at the wider aspects of the motor industry and as usual we will bring you the news and views from the suppliers and manufacturers.
Garage Watch has always been at the forefront of bringing news on future legislation which affects our industry – Mark Bradshaw will continue to lead the way with his forthright views on the industry and uncovering the hidden downside in impending legislations.

Voice of the Industry

Garage Watch magazine was formed ten years ago in the wake of the fuel blockades of 2000 when independent garages found they were being forced out of business by unfair pricing practices known as ‘twotier pricing’.
Mark Bradshaw fought these practices and took his fight to Downing Street. As a result, the government brought the petrol giants into line and many thousands of businesses were saved.
Mark became the voice of the industry and he launched a trade association and magazine to continue fighting for the rights of the independent forecourt traders. The trade association is no more but Garage Watch magazine has continued to support the forecourt industry for the past ten years.
Mark Bradshaw is sinominous with the independent forecourt business – he was a forecourt trader for 12 years. His views are still sought by the media. Mark will continue to edit Garage Watch and broaden the base of the magazine’s affinity deals where we introduce the industry to other stakeholders who can bring added benefits to our industry.

Growing with the times

The garage forecourt industry was severely damaged as a result of the 2000 fuel blockades but the 6,200 forecourts that have survived have had to change and modify with the times. They are stronger for the experience.
No more the sad images of the faded ‘L’ plates in the grimy garage forecourt - the industry has embraced change and in doing so has become an integral part of local communities. Many lady drivers stop on the way home from work to top up with the weekly shopping or to pick up a convenience meal. Liquor sales have proved big-hitters with forecourts providing a pleasing choice of wines and beers.
Seasonal sales such as barbecue foods and fuels, ice creams, cold drinks – even the latest kiddie’s gimmicks, are all areas where the well-informed forecourt trader can capitalise on all general trends. Add on other crucial services such as car and jet washes and the local forecourt has become a hub of local communities. Daily newspapers, Sunday newspapers and magazines, greeting cards - all help to push sales upwards.
Most forecourts have ample parking away from the petrol pumps to allow customers to call in for supplies without impeding the general workload of the fuel side of the business. This all adds to the impressive figures of £3.6 billion sales per annum at the independent forecourt – a figure that is increasing by around five per cent per annum.

Decision Makers

Garage Watch in its new format offers advertisers the opportunity to place their products in front of the decision makers of the independent forecourt industry.
Partnership Publishing has developed unique publishing skills at interfacing with their target audience. The person who picks up Garage Watch is our target – the decision maker. Our two trade magazines in the vehicle recovery industry and the independent garage sector have benefitted from our style of publishing trade magazines.
Our magazines have a minimum of 50% editorial and that editorial is fully sourced. Around 60% is sourced from within our company, but we are happy to receive press releases from suppliers and manufacturers. Partnership Publishing has probably the best news gathering service in the automotive sector. We publish 62 trade magazines a year – which amounts to nearly 4,000 pages of news.
This is achieved through our in-house editorial team of Mark Bradshaw, Dave Gregory, Allan Hughes and Martin Scholes but our in-house service is supported by some of the UK’s premier freelance writers.
When it comes to news, we have it covered!

The power to decide

We don’t waste your money in mailing to sites that have no power to decide to purchase. Our mailing list contains only independent retailers; who are not cramped by head office buying policy.  This now enables us to offer the most cost effective way to place your products and services in front of the people with the power to decide.
Our database mailing list is updated regularly with input from past mailings, oil company assistance and Catalist verification to ensure your message gets through to the decision makers.  There are very few goods or services that cannot be successfully retailed from the modern forecourt and we have the most cost effective platform to do it.  We currently mail to circa 6,000+ independent forecourts across the UK.

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