Rye Street celebrates 25 years
Rye Street Group is celebrating 25 years in business today.
From humble beginnings, 19 years after he headed off from East Kilbride to find work in London on the day of decimalisation, Thomas Aird McNaughton opened the doors of Rye Street Coachworks for the first time. With a team of five, the business started its journey. Today, Rye Street Group has grown to become one of the most well-known, independent repair groups in the UK repair industry.
Bill Duffy, managing director, said, ‘Tom’s vision all of those years ago – to build a great team of people and strong business principles, always backed by an ethos of high quality repair and customer service – provided the strong foundations on which today’s business is built. In 1990, the business turned over £200,000. This year, our turnover will exceed £18million and we are on target to repair over 16,000 vehicles. It’s fair to say that even Tom never expected the business to reach such heights.’
The group now have six sites covering the South East of England, and a team of over 170 people. And in recent months, the group have made a conscious decision to grow their car manufacturer approval portfolio, now boasting 18 different approvals.
‘We have developed and evolved over the years to meet the challenges and demands of this exciting industry’, commented Bill. ‘When myself and Lee (Tom’s son) joined the business, we were still operating from the single site. Through a process of expansion in Bishops Stortford and then the successive openings of Cheshunt, Broxbourne and Haverhill, the business strengthened its footprint in the South East. We have since added Stansted and Braintree and we shall not be stopping there. Our mantra – proud of our past, passionate about our future – perfectly captures our desire to succeed and grow.’
