MVS: A Rich History

Before JS Motors Oxford was founded in December 2014, there was a long history of garage workshop services being offered from the same site at Station Lane Industrial Estate.

The early days

Woodstock Road railway station opened in 1852. The station was opened to serve Woodstock and not Kidlington was inconveniently-sited at the northern end of Kidlington, around 20 minutes walk from the village. Woodstock Road became a junction station in 1890 upon the opening of the 4-mile (6.4 km) Blenheim and Woodstock Branch Line, and renamed Kidlington to avoid confusion.

Sadly Kidlington station was one of the many thousands of stations closed between 1964 and 1970 following a report by British Railways chairman Richard Beeching. Passenger services closed in November 1964.

After closure, the station site was quickly turned into an industrial estate known as The Station Field.

In 1967, Alan Rushworth and Robert Harbottle acquired the Cleenol Building at Station Lane Industrial Estate. The building was located in the former goods yard of Kidlington station.

The original Cleenol Building was demolished in July 1969. A workshop was built in its place and still forms part of the structure of the garage today.

MVS Transport

MVS Transport was established in 1968 and registered as a limited company in July 1972. The company provided tipper transport for the first 5 years of its incorporation, before specialising in car transportation. MVS Transport became an RHA (Road Haulage Association) member in December 1972.

MVS Transport continues to operate to this day, specialising in car transport services for event logistics.

Motor Vehicle Services

In 1969, alongside MVS Transport, a garage workshop was founded.

The garage was founded by Alan Rushworth and Robert Harbottle. Initially the garage provided 24/7 breakdown assistance, service and repairs for Thames Valley Police, The RAC and The AA, as well as local businesses and residents in Kidlington, Yarnton, Cassington and surrounding areas. The garage carried out general servicing as well as major mechanical repairs including engine rebuilds. All mechanics worked one late night a week.

One of the first employees of Motor Vehicle Services was mechanic Bruce Coomber, who continued to work at JS Motors Oxford until as recently as 2016.

In 1972, the garage was contracted to provide servicing and repair work to then Coventry-based Lathams Transporters. Until the early 1980s the garage also carried out contract repairs for Volkswagen.

Alan Bunting and Roy Brown

After several changes of ownership, the garage continued to operate until December 2014 under the ownership of Alan Bunting and Roy Brown, becoming an MOT test station in the process.

A garage workshop has operated at the same Station Field site for more than 50 years providing vehicle servicing and repairs to local Kidlington residents.

Current ownership

Acquired in December 2014 by Eugene Forde and Ben Walker, owners of JS Motor Services in Minster Lovell near Witney, the garage was renamed JS Motors Oxford.

Following extensive renovations to the workshop, today the garage operates a busy MOT test station and provides servicing and repairs to local trade and retail customers. With improvements including additional ramps, state-of-the-art diagnostics equipment and a fully refurbished customer waiting area, the site operates as a modern fully equipped garage workshop.

The garage boasts three consecutive years of near perfect scores with the AA’s ‘Certified Garage Programme’ and works closely with the AA and RAC breakdown networks. Eugene is responsible for the day to day running of the workshop.

DVSA Class 4 MOT Test Fee: £54.85

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