Redundant workers set up firm, Teesdale Mercury

A team of classic car specialists have got back on the road by starting up their own business following redundancy.

The four former employees of David Royle and Company lost their jobs when the business closed its Staindrop workshops last October.

But with more than 100 years of experience between them, the four decided to work together to set up The Classic Car Workshop.

“Rather than let our skills and experience go to waste, we decided to keep the nucleus of the team together, pool our resources and set up a specialist workshop of our own,” said project manager Roger Tyrell.

Ron Reay is a high-skilled time-served mechanic, who trained on Jaguars and has worked maintaining Aston Martin, Lotus and Ferrari cars, while Nigel Bainbridge is an experienced sheet metal worker who can create complicated patterns in steel and aluminium. 

Kel Meurs has a broad range of skills including mechanical work, panelling and spray-painting, and they all have experience in repairing the ash framing of older cars.

And Mr Tyrell is responsible for ensuring that all work proceeds as smoothly as possible within budget and on time.

 “The basic team comprises four skilled men with a combined experience of over 100 years in the automotive industry and between us we have the numerous specialist skills required to restore older vehicles,” said Mr Tyrell.

After finding a suitable base in Dalton-on-Tees, near to the Croft motor racing circuit, and preparing and equipping it, the business is now up and running. The team currently have thirteen cars in its workshop including a 1933 Singer Le Mans that has been off the road for almost 40 years, a Triumph Roadster for an ash frame rebuild, and a Jaguar XK120 for recommission. For more information, call 01325 713127.