Steph Savill, A driven, FOXY Lady
When her step-daughter was ripped off at her first solo garage visit Steph Savill was shocked to discover that UK garages aren't licensed and mechanics don't have to be qualified to repair cars.
Out of this Eureka moment FOXY Lady Drivers Club www.foxyladydrivers.com was born; a motoring support network for women so Mums and daughters wouldn't have to go through the same harrowing garage experience. The equivalent of having a motoring friend to call on when driving gets stressful, members pay a one-off £23 subscription to get practical advice, inside information, moneysaving offers and a caring accident assistance service. Not just about garage services any more, the club now shares tips and female feedback about cars, dealers, insurance and finance products for the benefit of members and their family.
Having met many genuinely good garages during this journey, Steph wanted to introduce them to more women drivers, not just members of the Club. To do this she developed a network of FOXY approved FEMALE FRIENDLY garages and accident repair centres called FOXY Choice www.foxychoice.com.
To be FOXY Choice approved, garages have to sign the FOXY Promise to 'never overcharge, patronise or sell women anything they don't need or want' and demonstrate quality credentials, time-saving customer services, superior facilities and favourable female feedback.
From this experience, Steph observed that garages with female staff simply seemed to be more female friendly than others with an all male staff. In an industry with a 80:20 male:female staff ratio she is now part of an Automotive Careers Champion network promoting exciting career opportunities in the motor industry for women and the benefits of employing women to future employers.
To justify her efforts, Steph quotes from Lord Davies' recent report 'Women on Boards 2011. “Companies with more women on their boards were found to outperform their rivals with a 42% higher return on sales, 66% higher return on invested capital and 53% higher return on equity.”
Which is all grist to the FOXY mill of course because Steph can see the long term benefits for FEMALE FRIENDLY businesses that come from a trusting customer relationship that grows into loyalty and business referrals.
