At the end of a quiet, leafy lane in Finchley, north London, is a hive of activity. It’s the middle of the working day at Spanners With Manners, which as it sign proudly declares is London’s first all-female garage. The smells of coffee, rubber and oil mingle as mechanics scurry about, shouting questions, jokes and instructions to each other. The office – a garden shed set back from the garage – is fiercely manned by guard dogs: a dachshund and two Jack Russell-chihuahua mixes. On the wall is, incongruently, a signed photo of Rod Stewart.
“Oh, he’s a really good mate of my mum’s neighbour,” says Laura Kennedy nonchalantly. Laura, the founder of Spanners With Manners, runs it with her wife Siobhan. “[The neighbour and Rod Stewart] grew up together. Last time he saw him, he got him to sign that photo for us.” Stewart isn’t the only celebrity to have a connection to the business – the actor and producer Sadie Frost teamed up with them in 2020 to make a charity calendar.
