When the lease terminated on Scania’s outgrown Bellshill dealership at the end of 2021, the solution was already in place – an ultra-modern £10 million complex built from scratch on a 7.8 acre site at Eurocentral. Visiting after a first fully functioning year, Alistair Vallance notes a massive, ongoing enthusiasm for the move.
TO REFER to Scania’s new Scottish flagship dealership as ‘state of the art’ is a huge understatement. Everything in the two-acre workshop and sales office building is miles ahead of the industry norm and it’s not just the underfloor heating throughout powered by renewable electricity, or the huge, bright glass entrance doors to the bays, but also the obvious air of a modern working environment enjoyed by all members of staff.
General manager at Scania Eurocentral is multi-tasking Jasper O’Rourke, in charge of the workshop bays, parts department and service administration. He reckoned the long-anticipated move from Bellshill has resulted in a general feeling of cohesion and fulfilment for all, underlining the Scania family ethos which is prevalent world-wide.
“We started at Eurocentral with 33 truck technicians, now we have 39 together with five 3rd year apprentices, so in reality 44 and we have three vacancies. In addition, as part of Scania’s ‘growing our own’ policy we have six 2nd year apprentices coming through and this complement allows us to run three shifts to keep our eleven 38 metre bays fully operational. In addition, we have an under-chassis wash bay and DVSA lane testing and examining 12 to 14 trucks per day, five days a week, and we’re fully booked well into Q2.
