Yorkshire Car Restoration is rapidly becoming a YouTube sensation, but like any business, it faced the challenge of balancing the investment required for growth with the reality of increased running costs and energy consumption.
As demand for the company’s specialist skills grew, it became clear that its old, secondhand compressor was no longer fit for purpose and too expensive to run. In response, Atlas Copco stepped in and provided Yorkshire Car Restoration with a new G Series G4FF compressor that is energy efficient, quiet in operation and provides more than sufficient compressed air for six bays of power tools and a paint spray shop to operate simultaneously.
Yorkshire Car Restoration’s rapid growth is the result of a bold strategic business decision. Four years ago, the company operated out of a 1,000-square-foot garage, specialising in restoring Mazda MX5s and other vintage cars. However, as the market declined and customers were spending less per project, the company’s entire business model was rethought. Leveraging its strengths, Yorkshire Car Restoration transformed into a YouTube business, providing expert content on car restoration projects.
Strains, pains and automobiles
After reinvesting everything back into the business, some difficult decisions had to be made, including purchasing a secondhand compressor from eBay. While the old piston compressor coped initially, it simply did not have the capacity to power the rapidly expanding business for long. The issues became evident when Yorkshire Car Restoration relocated to a new 10,000 sq ft premises outside Doncaster, featuring six service bays and a dedicated paint shop.
“If we wanted to use the paint sprayer we had to switch off power tools like angle grinders, and vice versa,” explains Steve Garbutt, owner of Yorkshire Car Restoration. “The lack of enough compressed air to run all our tools at once made it difficult to plan restoration tasks and meet customer deadlines, particularly at a time when we were beginning to attract a lot of new business. Additionally, we started experiencing unacceptable levels of moisture in the airflow, leading to a lot of rework on paint jobs, seriously affecting the quality of the finish. On top of that, the compressor was very noisy. In our new premises, the sound echoed around, which made conversation on the shopfloor or with customers virtually impossible. The final straw came with the arrival of a £35,000 electricity bill.”
Enterprising spirit
With all capital tied in Yorkshire Car Restoration, the company risked being caught in a vicious circle: spiralling electricity bills but no available funds to purchase a more energy-efficient compressor. The same creativity that had moved them from a one-man band to an online enterprise gave them a potential solution: the company put together a sponsorship package and contacted various compressor manufacturers to see if they would be interested in payment in kind.
Atlas Copco stepped forward, and, in return for sponsorship, provided Yorkshire Car Restoration with a G4FF 4kW Screw Compressor. Ideal for workshops, body shops and small industrial users, this model provides an energy-efficient, reliable workplace air compressor that minimises the total cost of ownership. Part of the G Series, the G4FF features Atlas Copco’s patented rotary screw element for a 100% duty cycle, inbuilt refrigeration and an advanced electronic controller. Compared to piston compressors, the G4FF is cleaner and more economical to own, while working longer hours, as it delivers more air per unit of input energy. This is particularly beneficial where electricity costs are high. Thanks to a low-vibration belt system, it is also extremely quiet in operation and provides more than sufficient compressed air for six bays of power tools and a paint spray shop to operate simultaneously.
Although the compressor is tucked discreetly into a corner of the workshop, the Atlas Copco name will appear in future car restoration videos, and Yorkshire Car Restoration will explain to its viewers the importance of clean, dry compressed air.
Yorkshire Car Restoration came up with an original and intriguing proposition, and their enterprising spirit resonated with our own. We checked a few details and assessed their needs, then confirmed that we were happy to support them with a new compressor. We’re proud to be a part of their success and we hope that other garages and workshops will see the real business benefits that our compressors can deliver, particularly around air quality and efficient operation
Top marques
Yorkshire Car Restoration is now one of the fastest-growing companies on YouTube, attracting a worldwide following. They currently have around 130,000 subscribers, and this is predicted to rise to two million followers by the end of 2026.
We are absolutely thrilled with our new compressor. The new G4FF provides us with air on demand, rather than a continuous supply, which is more efficient than the constant supply of the old piston compressor. It also enables us to run all our power tools and spray booths at the same time, with air capacity to spare. Atlas Copco has given us confidence that we can continue to grow our vintage car restoration business without needing to replace our compressor again any time soon.
