Our story

Built by an engineer. Shaped by real mechanics.

We are not a venture-capital firm trying to "disrupt" the motor trade. We are building the reliable, fast, no-nonsense tools that independent garages asked for.

a close shot of hands torquing an engine
two mechanics working on a car
mechanic under a car
mechanic under a tyre
mechanic doing diag work on a car

It started with a frustrated garage owner.

GarageRevs was started by J, a Senior Software Engineer who spent years building complex systems for banks, the NHS, and government agencies. He was good at building things that worked under pressure.

One day, he visited his local garage and watched Phil, the owner, fighting with a 20-year-old management system while trying to run his MOT lane. Phil typed in a reg number. The system hung. He typed it again. It hung again. His receptionist was on the phone trying to book someone in and couldn't get the diary to load. Phil was a skilled mechanic being held hostage by bad software.

That visit made the problem obvious. Independent garages were being forced to choose between two bad options: stay on paper and spreadsheets and accept the chaos, or sign a three-year contract for overpriced software that needs a full day of training just to book a service.

Neither option was acceptable. So J started building a third one.

What that “third option” means in practice (what makes a system right for a serious UK independent garage rather than a chain or a hobby workshop) is something we have put on paper. It is also where the principles below come from.

Every evening on admin that should have been done during the day
2-3 hours
Locked into contracts they regret signing
3 years
In real workshops before writing a single line of code
200+ hours

What we heard

The frustrations that built GarageRevs

"I can order parts through my system, but I get better prices ringing the supplier directly. Then I get a paper invoice when the parts turn up and I have to type it all back into the system by hand. Every single line. It takes me nearly two hours a day. Every day."

Mark
JFK Automotive, Automechanika

"Is anyone else in the trenches right now with the phones? I honestly dread them ringing."

Service advisor
Independent garage forum

"We need something simple that just works. The current system is so slow it's quicker to do it on paper."

Garage owner
During workshop visit

"Be careful not to get locked into super long contracts."

Chay
Garage owner forum

"Today we had 6 no-shows, which means 6 slots were wasted while our phone was ringing off the hook with people trying to book in."

HSR Autos
Garage owner, Aberdeen

"I finish in the workshop at six, then I'm on the laptop until nine doing invoices and updating records. Every single night."

Garage owner
During workshop visit

"My receptionist is going to quit if I don't find something better."

Garage owner
During workshop visit

Sound familiar? Let's fix it.

Book a 15-minute demo. We will show you how GarageRevs handles bookings, job cards, invoices and front-desk admin, and whether it fits the way your workshop already works. No sales pitch. No commitment.

GarageRevs is built for independent UK garages of roughly 3 to 8 bays. Plans start at £150 a month, about a fiver a day, and the pricing is public. Every plan includes free data migration. Month-to-month. No lock-in. No exit fees. If it is not right within 90 days, every penny back and we help you export your data cleanly.

If you need a 24/7 phone support line today, we are not the right model.

Built in workshops, not boardrooms

Every frustration on this page turned into a feature requirement

Before we wrote a single line of code, J spent months in workshops. He sat behind the front desk with receptionists who flinched every time the phone rang. He watched one FOH manager keep a paper diary next to her screen because the digital one was slower than writing it by hand. Here's what those conversations taught us:

Speed over features

A system that is fast and simple beats a system that is powerful and slow. Every time. We will never add a feature that makes the daily workflow slower, no matter how impressive it looks in a demo.

Receptionist-first design

The owner decides to buy the software. The receptionist decides whether the garage keeps it. We design every screen for the person answering the phones and building the invoices, not for the person reviewing the monthly reports. See how that shows up in the front-desk workflow.

No lock-in, ever

Your data is yours. We will never trap you in a long-term contract. We believe software should earn your business every single month through quality and reliability, not through legal threats and exit fees.

What you get when you choose GarageRevs

When you sign up to GarageRevs, you are not buying a licence from a faceless corporation. You are working with a small, founder-led team of engineers who actually built the system. That means:

  • Fast iteration. If something is not working for your operation, tell us. We can fix it.
  • Direct support. GarageRevs is founder-led, which means when you call with a problem, you speak to the person who built the system. Not a call centre. Not a support ticket. The engineer.
  • Real-world understanding. J has sat behind the front desk, watched the ramps, and listened to the phones ring. We understand the difference between a job card and a job sheet, and why that distinction matters.
service advisor smiling while on the phone at a garage front desk