CVW reports on how one workshop equipment provider helped its customer with a mountainous task.
When K2 Recovery decided to upgrade and expand its Kettering workshop it turned to Totalkare to provide the right kit.
“Our business has been expanding over the years and with an increased vehicle throughput, we felt it was the right time to upgrade our workshop equipment,” explains Dave Bown, managing director and co-founder.
Established in 2012 by Peter Harvey and Dave, the company operates around the clock serving the Midlands and beyond, as it also provides a comprehensive national breakdown and recovery service. The company has grown rapidly, thanks in part to its loyal staff, many of whom have been with it from the start.
Dave’s shopping list was extensive – an electro-hydraulic two post lift, heavy duty four post lift, diesel smoke meter, and a headlamp tester – all from Totalkare. He says that the investment is already paying off.
“The equipment saves us time and money, without compromising the high quality of service we provide to our customers. It’s also increasing our workshop flexibility.”
The 5,500kg capacity two post lift from Totalkare has a base-free design and is an ideal when a fixed post lift is needed and the flexibility of a mobile vehicle lift is not required. The two post lift is suitable for vans, minibuses and pickup trucks through to small heavy vehicles and so is the perfect complement to the four post model.
Totalkare’s heavy duty four post lift is suitable for vehicles up to 33,000kg, yet K2 Recovery has opted for the 25,000kg, nine-metre model as this is ideal for most passing through their workshop for repair and maintenance. For ease of use the four post lift is supplied as surface or recessed mounted and with the choice of drive on/drive through options.
“The two-post lift is perfect for any vans that come into our workshop requiring maintenance work, and the four post is ideal for the heavier vehicles,” Dave comments.
The diesel smoke meter is a diagnostic tool that detects and measures the amount of light blocked in a sample of smoke emitted from diesel engines in cars, vans, buses, coaches and trucks. It is one way to gauge whether the engine is running efficiently so it can help with fuel economy. More importantly, given the increasing number of clean air zones in the UK, it will show whether not the engine is meeting the emissions standards for these zones. So now the company’s customers can be sure that their vehicles are running efficiently and will not fall foul of the law.
The top reason that HGVs and PSVs fail their annual test is lamps – 3.5% – followed by headlamp aim at 3.4%. K2 Recovery’s Totalkare headlamp tester checks both the orientation and intensity of a vehicle headlamp to ensure that it meets the minimum required standards, so this is one issue that will not bother its customers as this tool will ensure that all vehicle headlamps are in working order and comply with DVSA standards.
So what is in the name, K2 Recovery? A postcode perhaps. No, it is the Himalayan mountain known as the Savage Mountain after George Bell – a climber on the 1953 American expedition – told reporters, “It’s a savage mountain that tries to kill you.”
Dave has a safer and more down-to-earth reason for naming the company after this peak. “We chose K2 because it might not be the highest mountain in the world, but it’s the the hardest to summit and we relish a challenge and appreciate you rarely get something without effort in life.”
About K2 Recovery
K2 works with a strong network of agents providing services covering the length and breadth of the UK and Europe, with operations managed through a 24 hours, 7 days a week call centre. All vehicles and control room are equipped with the latest GPS tracking and mobile data terminal technology so the quickest resource can be dispatched to cut down ETA times.
It covers Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire and Bedfordshire with depots in Kettering and a control centre and main storage facility with large secure undercover and open-air storage located on Telford Way industrial estate; its Robinson Close depot houses its workshop facilities and is an integral part of the company’s intervention policy to save on long-distance recoveries and to get the customers back on the road again.
