A Ferrari specialist near Reading has won permission to build a new workshop.
GTO Engineering specialises in the service and maintenance of classic Ferraris.
Its website shows the F40, the California and other classic Ferraris driving through the countryside, and the fixing work the staff do.
The company is based at GTO House, a grand building located off the A4 Bath Road in Hare Hatch.
GTO Engineering recently applied to build a new workshop, with the building being two storeys tall and situated to the rear of GTO House.
Floor plans show that work would take place at ground level, with Ferraris being stored on the mezzanine floor.
Due to the size of the workshop, a decision on the plan had to be made by councillors on the planning authority for Hare Hatch, Wokingham Borough Council.
Advocating for the project at the most recent planning meeting, James Crossland, a director of GTO Engineering, explained the benefits the company provides to the area.
Mr Crossland said: “I want to tell you a story about a 17-year-old girl named Marnie.
“She’s a Year 12 student at The Holt School, just a few hundred meters away. And she studies chemistry, physics, maths and further maths and hopes to study mechanical engineering at university.
“She’s bright, articulate and hardworking, exactly the kind of young person we should be encouraging into STEM careers.”
He then explained that many of her fellow students were unable to get placements in their desired employment sectors during work experience week.
Mr Crossland said: “Thanks to a longstanding relationship with The Holt School, Marnie was able to spend a week with us at GTO Engineering, she did great, and we loved having her there as well.
“Our ties to the school run deep. Our financial controller Kylie attended school there, as did several of our colleagues’ partners and many of their daughters, and it’s a really good example of how deeply rooted we are in the local community.
“The only thing we have ever asked our community is that the borough council support this planning application.
“GTO Engineering is not just another car workshop, it’s globally recognised as one of the leading restorers and engineers of classic Ferraris, we are very discreet about our work.”
Mr Crossland then thanked the council’s economic development team, councillors, Wargrave Parish Council and MPs for their support for the business and the workshop project, which he said has been 10 years in the making.
Ward member councillor Wayne Smith (Conservative, Thames), supporting the plan, said: “GTO produces some of the best cars, and has been home to some of the best engineering in Berkshire, if not the UK, stroke the world, and it’s been providing the local economy with trade and employment for many years.”
The project was unanimously approved at the planning committee meeting on Wednesday, March 14.
You can view the application by typing reference 250452 into the council’s planning portal.
