From an early age, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to work in the Motor Industry and now, as the founder of Ellis Auto and Electrical, I am delighted to say that for the past decade I have done exactly that!
Aged just 15, I first started my career working Saturdays at a local garage to gain valuable experience before commencing my apprenticeship for BMW. Upon successful completion, I then spent 9 years working for two BMW Main Dealerships as a Vehicle Technician. Additionally, I spent a few months working as a Service Advisor. This role enabled me to develop and refine my customer service skills.
Continuous learning and development are something that I highly value. During my time at BMW, I welcomed all of the training opportunities provided to me. Gaining my Hybrid certifications is one of the most notable achievements. During this time, I also developed a keen interest and deep understanding of vehicle electrics and communication systems.
At the start of the year, I decided to leave main dealerships and move to the independent sector. I have since spent the past six months working at Porsche Specialist. This was not a decision I took lightly, but I felt it was what I needed to take to advance my knowledge, skills and experience to the next level.
In May 2022, Ellis Auto and Electrical was born! For the following 6 months, this was a part-time venture alongside my employment until, in December 2022, I was able to make EAE my primary focus.
After leaving school, I wasn't 100% sure about what career I wanted to pursue however, growing up I had always enjoyed working and learning alongside my grandad who owned his own garage. This gave me the passion and confidence to begin working on my own project cars throughout the years.
After learning and becoming secure with the fundamentals, I embarked on gaining my formal qualification as a Level 3 Technician by completing my apprenticeship by working at a local Porsche specialist and attending a weekly college session. Upon successful completion, I stayed for a further 6 years to really hone my knowledge and expertise of Porsches, both new and old, before deciding that I needed to develop the breadth of my knowledge to include other makes, too. I decided to move to a local MOT centre and went on to gain my MOT Tester Licence.
I'd always hoped to work for myself so alongside my work at the MOT centre I created my own company and began working evenings and weekends on both my own jobs and supporting Josh at EAE. It soon became clear that our long-term vision and values aligned, so we made the decision to merge our companies and become partners in January 2024.
As of March 2024, I was able to make the move to working for EAE on a full-time basis so that Josh and I can continue to develop and grow EAE to its full potential.