Sacrilege to scrap a Rolls-Royce or Bentley?

Leicestershire-based Flying Spares, the world’s largest independent supplier of Rolls-Royce and Bentley parts, has crystallised its guiding principle into a new company motto: ‘Recycle to Preserve’.

Flying Spares director, Neil Arman, explained: “As we shifted to Employee Ownership, with company founders Ben and Lucy Handford stepping back from the day-to-day running of the business, we had a lot of discussions about maintaining their ethos. It boiled down to something Ben told me years ago: ‘By dismantling one wrecked Rolls-Royce or Bentley we keep another six on the road’.

“The new motto is useful for both our staff and customers, reflecting the fact that we know more and care more about these cars than almost anyone. It recognises that some cars are beyond repair – those badly damaged in crashes or fires, or just sadly neglected – while also highlighting our overriding aim to always save as much original Rolls-Royce and Bentley engineering as possible.

“Rolls-Royce and Bentley enthusiasts are perfectionists. They want genuine same model nuts and bolts, let alone grilles and mascots. As such, every heritage part is valuable, the rarer the better, so we invest in the best people and equipment to fill our shelves with them.

“We scour the globe for original parts, for example, from specialist garages that are shutting down. We also buy cars in all states of disrepair. If they can be resold as restoration projects, brilliant. If not, they go for dismantling at our Market Bosworth HQ. Currently, around 95% of the parts we strip are recycled, and we’re continually working to improve this number. We go to extraordinary lengths, like taking apart tappets to see if any component can be reused.

“We’re proud to hold the world’s largest stock of recycled Rolls-Royce and Bentley parts, which we supply with a 12-month warranty. Every part is assessed and if it is borderline we always try to rescue it. Better still, we do ever more of this work in-house in our state-of the-art Technical Services Division (TSD) workshop.

“We transform smashed-up, burnt-out, rotting Rolls-Royces and Bentleys into quality recycled parts – great for vehicle authenticity and environmental sustainability, not to mention significantly cheaper than new parts. That’s not sacrilege, it’s a win-win-win.”