History

Rippingale's Garage was created in September 1969 by Sally and Tony Rippingale. Previously Tony worked for Herbert Robinsons on Newmarket Rd in Cambridge. He then rented a workshop from Baldry's Soft Drinks in Napier St, Cambridge (now the Grafton Centre).

With expansion of business we relocated to larger premises in Vinery Rd, off Mill Rd, Cambridge. We decided that investing in property would be more beneficial than paying rent so we purchased a piece of land at 5 Smith's Path in Cottenham (next to the Jolly Millers pub). There we built the workshop using second-hand materials.

After 11 years of building a good customer base and strong business in the early 80s we decided we would like to add an MOT bay to our range of services. On June 1 1981 we moved to Wilburton; the MOT bay was not operating at the time due to investments and specific updates needed at that time. After carrying out the necessary updates we started testing in October of that year.

As our sons Ben and Luke left school they came into the business. They passed the necessary exams and became MOT testers once they had reached the minimum age of 21.

Our daughter Susannah decided her vocation upon leaving school was to work with children and she is now a fully qualified Early Years Practitioner at the King's School in Ely.