The prosperity of rural economies is not only contingent on major infrastructure, important though that is. Access to everyday services which more urban communities may take for granted plays its part too. For communities like ours, local access to vehicle repairs, MOT testing and charging facilities can hugely affect how easily people live, work and trade.
That is the context for the investment we are making at Moduron Strata Motors in Pontrhydfendigaid. I work alongside my partner, Paul, who is the director and technician of the business. We have been trading for nearly three years, providing vehicle sales, servicing and repairs for our rural community and the surrounding area. We currently work on cars, motorcycles and anything up to light commercial vehicles, with a simple aim: to provide a professional, reliable and affordable service while supporting the community around us.
From the beginning we wanted to build a business with a long-term future. We knew there was a need locally, and we knew the motor industry was changing. But when we bought the premises, we only had a single-bay garage. We had big ambitions but creating the kind of modern facility we wanted required investment that would not have been possible on our own.
The support we have received through the Mid Wales Commercial Property Investment Fund has been a real turning point. The fund is delivered through Growing Mid Wales, the regional partnership between Powys County Council and Ceredigion County Council, and forms part of the wider Mid Wales Growth Deal. It was set up to support established businesses to develop, extend, refurbish or repurpose commercial premises across Powys and Ceredigion, helping to strengthen the region’s commercial infrastructure and support local growth.
For us, it has helped turn a long-held plan into a practical project. We are modernising and upgrading our workshop, expanding from one bay to three, introducing our own MOT testing facilities, installing EV charging points and investing in specialist equipment for electric and hybrid vehicles.
Our total project cost is approximately £305,000, with 45% support from the fund and the remaining 55% coming from our own contribution. We are now in the delivery phase – the old workshop has recently been demolished, and we are moving towards laying the foundations and starting the structural engineering work for the new building.
The aim is to create a modern, sustainable garage that meets the needs of the community now and in the future. Increasing our capacity will allow us to serve more customers locally and having our own MOT testing facilities will mean people do not have to travel elsewhere for that work.
Investing in electric and hybrid vehicle equipment will help us respond to the way the sector is changing, and this future-proofing is important not only for us as a business but more widely for rural areas. Electric and hybrid vehicles are becoming part of everyday motoring, but the services and infrastructure around them are not always available close to home. At the moment, the closest garage with a charging point is around 20 to 30 minutes away from us. Being able to offer those facilities locally means our community will have better access to the support it needs as vehicle technology changes.
The investment is also about jobs and skills. We want to create skilled employment in the local area and offer apprenticeship opportunities, so young people can see that there are careers available here in their own community. In rural Wales, that is an important part of economic development. If young people cannot see routes into work locally, it becomes harder to retain skills and harder for businesses to plan for the future.
The benefits of the project have also reached beyond our own business. Throughout the process we have used local suppliers, local contractors and local advisers, so the investment is supporting other businesses in the area too. That is one of the strengths of this kind of funding; it helps one business move forward, but the work, spending and confidence can spread through the local economy.
Our purpose has always been to serve this community. We did not want to move away in order to grow – we wanted to improve and modernise the facilities we already had so we could keep services local and make the business stronger in the place where it began.
Rhian Evans discusses the Mid Wales Commercial Property Investment Fund on Unlocking Mid Wales, the Growing Mid Wales podcast. Listen here:
