It is not impossible to start off from scratch in heavy recovery, but it does help to have an idea about how to get the thing going again since you will need something to bring in revenue while you are waiting for the next recovery. So a yard large enough for the hook and a few disabled vehicles will also be required. It also helps to have a fairy godmother.
Mick Gould and Neil Yates both started off in their early twenties working from the family farm/yard doing heavy vehicle and plant repairs, either from that base or mobile. Both had some financial assistance from their parents. I worked for a while with both of these guys, in Micks case before he started out and was still an apprentice at an established heavy recovery company’s workshop. Mick, who is one of the most naturally talented fitters I have ever met, would always be covered in black grease from head to toe. While the rest of us turned up for work in cars or on a motorbike, Mick had a yellow Bedford TJ flat, upon which with our assistance went his toolchest many evenings. One of the evening jobs he told us about was attending to Jeff Beck’s (Yardbirds & Jeff Beck group) 'dozer which had thrown a track in the middle of a river. Later the family built a proper workshop on their farm, from which he traded until the opportunity came to acquire land next to the Royal Oak on the A21 at Flimwell.
Neil Yates’ father ran a sucessful HGV and van hire and haulage business from a yard near the old Jungle cafe at Offham on the A 20. Neil started off working from there and mobile. I met him at that time when he took over a contract from another mobile fitter who had attempted to fit an Iveco engine into a Ford Cargo and given up on the job. I was doing mobile repairs for Scottish & Newcastle Breweries whose depot was opposite Neil’s new customer, I would occasionally assist him when he needed a second pair of hands or neede the lend of something.