Family garage celebrates 50th anniversary

Prospect Garage, in Standish, was founded in 1970 by Les Farrimond, his dad Harold and Gordon Sheffield.

The company is still very much a family affair 50 years later, with Les’s son Roger Farrimond and Gordon’s son Peter Sheffield now overseeing its fortunes with Les, aged 78, still coming in for a few days each week.

Sadly the Covid-19 pandemic meant the business was unable to put on any kind of public event to mark the big anniversary, having to be content with sharing the milestone on social media instead.

The business was founded at a site on Wigan Road before moving to its current location on Bradley Road a decade later.

Roger, 48, said: “It’s a milestone and I’m glad we’ve got there, especially with how things are going this year.

“It’s a shame this has happened when we can’t do something for it, but it’s good to have it under the belt.

“We’re a local business and we’ve been serving the communities of Standish and surrounding areas like Wigan, Shevington and Appley Bridge for 50 years.

“Cars have evolved and we’ve taken on new things too. Standish has also changed. It has doubled in size with all the new houses.

“Things have changed over the 50 years but we’re still here.”

The business ws originally based in an old Texaco petrol station before moving to its current premises near the large trading estate.

The team of five now sell and repair cars as well as having a body shop on site and installing gadgets such as air conditioning systems.