Blogs

We are delighted to take on a new apprentice to support further recent growth in sales at Wing Mirror Man. 

Seventeen-year-old William Stockton Lewis, from Radcliffe, will start an apprenticeship with Wing Mirror Man next month (June 2023) and will study for a National Vocational Qualification Level Three in Software Development. 

Since the beginning of this year, Will has been working at Wing Mirror Man each Friday, whilst studying at Bury College for a BTEC in Media Production and a GCSE in Mathematics.

Said Will: “I’m over the moon at being offered an apprenticeship here at Wing Mirror Man. The apprenticeship will allow me to learn more things and go further into what I’m interested in such as web development and software development. 

He added: “I’m very ‘computer orientated’ so this apprenticeship just works for me.”

Joshua Speed, Business Development Manager at Wing Mirror Man, said: “We

Opinion Piece by Joshua Speed, Business Development Manager at Wing Mirror Man, Headlamps Direct & Window Regulator Man, all part of Buy It Online Limited.

German Manufacturers stop functionality to try to reduce carbon emissions

The latest example of the attack on car drivers and the constant bullying of drivers to buy an electric vehicle rather than retain a petrol or diesel car is being seen in Germany with car manufacturers Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz.

In a bid to further kowtow to Germany’s strict emissions law, VW and Mercedes-Benz are ending a number of automatic functions in their petrol or diesel vehicles. 

For example, they have stopped the heaters in their vehicles coming on automatically in order to thaw a frosty front and rear window first thing in the morning when people are getting into their cars to go to work. 

Now, drivers have to switch on their heaters manually w

Say hello to our new office junior, William Stockton Lewis.

Will, 17, has joined Buy It Online Limited, owner of Wing Mirror Man, Headlamps Direct and Window Regulator Man, on a part-time basis whilst he studies at our local college, Bury College, for a BTEC in Media Production and a GCSE in Mathematics. 

As our new office junior, he is learning about how we, as the UK’s leading supplier of wing mirrors to the trade and public, operate. 

Specifically, he is assisting our team with the website and by responding to requests from the public and trade customers such as independent garages, car body repair shops, and MoT testing centres for quotations for wing mirrors and our other products including headlamps, indicators and window regulators. 

(We also supply lots of other trade customers such as ambulance services, police services, housing associations, motorhome retailers and road hauliers).

By Joshua Speed, Business Development Manager at Wing Mirror Man

The Clean Air Zone in Greater Manchester - A bit of background

In March 2020, the government issued a legal direction requiring the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities address what it called ‘the vehicle pollution problem’.

As a result, the 10 authorities via the Greater Manchester Combined Authority drew up plans to create a ‘charging zone’ - one of the biggest in Europe covering an area of around 493 square miles and charge certain types of vehicles for the pleasure and necessity of driving in Greater Manchester.

The Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone was due to come into force on 30 May 2022.

However, concerns about financial hardship for local people and the lack of availability of compliant vehicles led the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, and Greater Manches

New Telephone System Helps Wing Mirror Man To Provide Better Customer Service

We are delighted to announce that we have introduced a new telephone system recently which has revolutionized our approach to customer service.

The new telephone system, supplied by local company Comms Consult, makes it easier and quicker for our advisers to help our customers find the correct parts for their vehicles. 

(We have more than 24,000 products across our three websites including wing mirror covers, full wing mirror units, wing mirror glass, stick-on glass, window regulators, and indicators. We supply virtually all makes and models of cars, vans and motorhomes and are the UK’s leading supplier of wing mirrors). 

The new system has a number of features and other benefits.

First of all, the advisers wear a headset which allows them to more easily use the keyboard in order to research and find the correct wing mirror part that t

We are delighted to announce that we are taking part in a scheme with Bury College to give 5 young people valuable work experience whilst they study. 

We have committed to taking on 5, 16 to 18-year-old students from the college over the period of two academic years to give them an insight into, and experience of, the world of work whilst they undertake a two-year T Level qualification. 

The work placements are for one day a week and each student is treated as an employee and asked to carry out, under supervision, a range of work activities. The work placements are part of a national scheme called T Levels which follow GCSEs and are equivalent to 3 A levels. These 2-year courses, which were launched in September 2020, have been developed, says the Government, ‘in collaboration with employers and education providers so that the content meets the needs of industry and prepares students for work, further training, or further study’.

These new qua

Have you tried to buy a second hand car recently?

Have you seen the prices? Unbelievable, eh?

If you have not been in the car market in the last two years, you probably haven’t got a clue what I’m talking about here and are probably not aware of what’s been going on for those of us who need to upgrade our motors - either with a second hand vehicle or even a new one. 

 
So, ‘what’s the story, morning glory’? (We are a Greater Manchester-based business, after all)

Say hello to David, Kirsty and Megan who have joined us recently to support a recent growth in sales. 

David Murphy, 47, joins as trade sales manager. David, who has previously worked for American Golf, BT and NEC, is responsible for responding to quotations from trade customers such as car, van and truck leasing and hire companies, car body repair shops, car dealers, and MoT centres. 

Kirsty Lewis, 45, has joined as customer support lead. Kirsty, who is also a self employed personal trainer, is responsible for responding to requests for quotations from the public on various sites such as Breakerlink, Parts Gateway, and First Choice. She is also responsible for after-sales care for public customers. 

Megan Sheen, 23, joins as a sales assistant and deals with telephone and email enquiries from both the public and the trade. She was previously a care assistant in a nursing home.

All three live

By Joshua Speed, Business Development Manager at Wing Mirror Man

As the UK’s leading supplier of wing mirrors to the public and trade we welcome the ‘death’ of digital car wing mirrors as reported in some media recently. 

Interestingly, Euro NCAP, which is a 5-star safety rating system to help consumers, their families and businesses compare vehicles more easily and to help them identify the safest choice for their needs, has downgraded by 10 points the cars which are using digital car wing mirrors - signifying that NCAP believes them to be less safe than other cars. 

This is because of the way that these digital car wing mirrors are positioned. ‘Digital car wing mirrors’ use a camera (instead of a mirror) which projects what it sees to a screen. The screen is positioned below the wing mirror on the front inside doors near to the door hinges. This means that drivers are looking down at the screen rather than out at th