Most people in the trade know the Flying Spares origin story – how it started with Ben Handford dismantling written-off Rolls-Royces and Bentleys in an old trailer. What’s remarkable, though, is how the company went from that to being one of the world’s largest independent suppliers in the space of just 30 years. Sitting here today, in the beautiful reception of our amazing new headquarters, makes me incredibly proud… so, let’s bring the story up to date.

Back in 2020, as we shifted to Employee Ownership, we had a lot of discussions about company ethos. Not just how we succeed, but why we go about it in such a unique way. It boiled down to something that Ben told me early on: by dismantling one wrecked Rolls-Royce or Bentley, we keep another six on the road. As a result, we came up with the ‘Recycle to Preserve’ motto to reflect this.

The decision to move to Merry Lees, near Leicester, was a massive statement of intent from the new senior management team. Rossendale House had served us well for years, but the layout was higgledy-piggledy. Now, we have everything under one roof.

‘A’ FOR COMPLIANCE

Flying Spares has just been awarded an ‘A’ for compliance by the Environment Agency, which is very pleasing. Every department had input into their new areas, with us asking them what their perfect set-up looked like. The architect then created a cohesive overall design, and all the staff love it – even those who were initially reticent. The pool table in the new canteen helps, of course!

Smooth workflow was a major priority, with so many small improvements that together add up to significant efficiency gains. We also undertook a deep clean of all our existing equipment before we moved it, as well as investing in a lot of new kit. Take the new workshop, which now has four brand new ramps compared with the two at Rossendale House, each with its own dedicated exhaust extraction.

At the time of writing, we’ve just purchased our 800th car, from which total around 10 per cent have been sold as rolling restoration projects. If it’s borderline, we’d always rather save them – not just because we love them, but also because it drives parts sales. We’ve just acquired a 1954 Silver Wraith by James Young, for example, and the first thing to happen will be a technical assessment: should it be offered for restoration, or is it too far gone?

MAJOR RECYCLING

Currently, we recycle just over 95 per cent of all stripped parts. It’s literally our business to rescue as many original components as possible. Rolls-Royce and Bentley enthusiasts are perfectionists; they want genuine same-model nuts and bolts, let alone grilles and mascots. That makes every heritage part potentially valuable – the rarer the better, so we inject new life into them.

Primary parts (those that are near pristine) usually go immediately to cleaning, which can reveal all sorts. Those guys have found just about everything, including mice living in air filters! Secondary parts (those with some small defects) tend to go into our stores to be worked on when time permits… unless they’re particularly in demand, in which case they get prioritised.

At this point, there are further distinctions to be made. Is it an engine or gearbox, for which we still use external renovation experts? Is it a power steering rack or a water pump suitable for advanced in-house reconditioning? And again, the new set-up comes into its own. We have a dedicated chemical washroom for removing old grease, a blasting room equipped with two aqua-blasters and a sand blaster – ideal for removing paint. There’s a separate room for grinding and polishing, a spray-painting room with two ovens, and finally a testing room, furthest away from the grinding room to maintain cleanliness.

Once the parts have been brought up to standard, the rest of the Flying Spares machine kicks-in – the sales advisors, warehousing and dispatch teams. The new racking arrangement is a work of art, illuminated by motion sensor lighting. These guys worked a whole weekend to get the very fast-moving stuff over from the old site in double-quick time. It was a mammoth effort, and as a result, we didn’t have a single day of downtime.

REAL ENTHUSIASTS

We’re enthusiasts at heart, so we keep parts that others don’t. We’re confident that, someday, someone will want it, and by then it might be the only one in existence. That’s Flying Spares in a nutshell. We invest in preservation by taking a very long-term view.

As well as buying cars in all states of disrepair, we scour the globe for original parts, often from dealerships that are shutting down. As I write this, we’re taking delivery of 28 pallets from a Bentley main dealer in Italy on Monday. News travels fast in the Rolls- Royce and Bentley world, and we’ve gained a reputation for doing things properly, with a bit of finesse. That’s why we’ve had visits from the likes of Wheeler Dealers and Supercar Blondie.

We’re proud to hold the world’s largest stock of recycled Rolls-Royce and Bentley parts, which we supply at a compelling price point with a 12-month warranty; and we’re constantly expanding our in-house reconditioned ranges, which come with a generous three-year warranty. In addition to our new parts, it’s an unrivalled offering.

Our new building has been a game-changer in so many ways, but fundamentally we still do what we’ve always done: ‘Recycle to Preserve’.