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HOBSON INDUSTRIES FEATURED IN TOP GEAR MAGAZINE JULY 2009 ISSUE
Peter Hobson, the man you see in the main image on the left, will stand to save the British tax payer two billion pounds over the next 20 years. Coming at a time when MPs have been using public money for furniture binges at Habitat and whips to beat their servants, it makes you want to pack him off to Westminster post-haste and give him free reign to do what it takes to get the country out of its economic quagmire. So just what is it that Hobson does?
A quick look at all those spares stacked up behind him, should give you a big clue; ex-Navy engineer, Peter, runs Hobson Industries, an outfit that takes in battle-ravaged military Land Rovers and reconditions them, making them fit to fight another day. Since Land Rover fulfilled the Wolf order from the Ministry of Defence (the combat-ready version of the Defender) and stopped building them, the MoD have turned increasingly to Hobson and his 50-strong team of mechanics for repairs, overhauls and cars that are, to all intents and purposes, totally new. And since it was decided that the Wolf would be kept in service until 2030, the service that Hobson Industries provides is even more essential.
After he left the Navy, Hobson decided he wanted to pursue a career that involved Land Rovers in some way. He's always been something of a Land Rover nut, he says - while serving at sea, he even found time to put together a Land Rover directory. So he started to frequent auctions where ex-military Landies were being sold off by the MoD, as well as buying up cars and parts from regular civvy auctions. His plan was to recondition them and sell them on at a profit. Very soon, his workshop in Linconshire was filling up, but rather than other customers, it was the MoD who kept calling, buying up the reconditioned versions of the cars they'd auctioned in the first place. It seems a wasteful thing to do, and it is, driven by bureaucratic ignorance, certain people unaware that simply because one element of a part has stopped working, it doesnt mean the rest can't be salvaged and used again. Fortunately, says Hobson,it is a culture that is gradually changing.
Even so, such has been the scale of these selloffs that two old grain storage sheds, industrial in size, have been given over to housing the overflow from the factory. You name a Land Rover part and it's here somewhere, most often in the hundreds and thousands. Hobson has got over a thousand V8 engines (some still in their crates), endless propshafts, diffs, wheels, doors, you name it, all stacked up in rows and compartments, waiting to be reassembled as part of a new car. There is millions of pounds worth of kit here. If Hobson was to think 'sod it, Ive had enough', he could sell it all and buy a village in Provence. "Or a grousemoor", he says, rather ruefully. "But I'm committed to the Wolf programme, even though most people would have sold this stuff on for a decent margin years ago. We're not a profit-driven company, we're a service-driven company."
His Navy years mean service is something Hobson knows plenty about, and it's sense of duty that drives him for the most part. This is why he and his team of mechanics are so scrupulous in their attention to detail when it comes to reconditioning a part or a car. For example, if a water pump has the slightest bit of porous metal around the seal, it gets scrapped. But if a part can be refurbished it will be, and it will be made as good as new. Better, in fact. All parts are tested so thoroughly that they come with a two-year warranty. That's double what an official new part gets, for half the price. "There cant be any shortcuts," says Hobson, resolutely. After all, soldiers' lives depend on this stuff.
In all, Hobson Industries turns out about 80 'brand-new' military Land Rovers a year. When I arrived to talk to him, a knackered Wolf had just arrived from auction. I'm not sure what was wrong with it, but from the outside, to a non-engineer like me it looked like a fully-working military Land Rover. Two men set about it at 10.30am and four hours later it's down to its bare chassis. All the parts are checked, cleaned and logged, after which they'll be distributed amongst Wolfs waiting for them. Gradually, all the pieces of the puzzle are found and fitted and there's a new Wolf ready for service again.
It's standing in Peter Hobson's office that his primary motivation becomes transparently clear. There's a 'thank you' plaque from some RUC officers, sent to him along with their cap badges, as a token of gratitude that one of his vehicles saved their lives. There's a picture of the Queen and a Help For Heroes wristband. "I want to take care of my employees here, but my experience as a Navy engineer means I can also make a bigger difference." Giving the soldiers the most effective, reliable kit is what matters most to him - that two billion pounds he's saving the rest of us is just a bonus.