Mohammed Zubair was training to be a London cabbie when his health collapsed and he had a long period of medical treatment – and when he started to recuperate, he helped out a friend’s garage. At the age of 33 he went back to college to study motor engineering then launched Deals on Wheels with his brother Imran.
That was a decade ago – now, they have garages in Tavistock Street, Bletchley, and Aston Road, Bedford, and both centres offer car and van (up to Class 7) MoTs, as well as tyres, maintenance and repair. Zubair is a keen cyclist (he’s cycled to both Brussels and Paris) and regularly cycles the 40 mile round trip between the two garages; his health has improved considerably and been stable for a long time.
They by-pass traditional tyre supply routes and import directly from Germany using their own truck – supplying tyres to other tyre-fit centres, not just their own. “We made some mistakes doing that at first, but we have a slick operation now, and buying direct means we get great prices,” said Zubair.
The MoT business required not just equipment but layout changes to the buildings, and it represented a significant investment – but it’s paid-off in a big way.
“We have a great relationship with Tecalemit, the two MoT lanes we bought are highly productive and very reliable, and we get good support from them,” Zubair said. “Would we do it again? Absolutely. It took our business to another level and both lanes are now really busy. If we did it again, would we choose Tecalemit? No question. We got high quality equipment, good value and a lot of support.”
