Company History
Early Days - 1993
Krakajak was formed as a motor factor selling brake discs.
In 1993 Chris Hulse looked through performance magazines at Southport Motoring Services (aka SMS) in Portland Street and found performance brake discs which were not very special; he mentioned it to Colin Phillips saying “they seem to be expensive for what they are”, so then both Chris and Colin investigated into the possibility in manufacturing performance brake discs, They decided on a design for the performance brake disks.
A initial batch brake discs were manufactured, marketed and sold under Krakajak Black Diamand Performance Brake Discs.
Shortly after Colin and Chris decided they would part company and go their separate ways and then Black Diamond Performance products were born.
Southport Motoring Services in 1990
1994 - 2017
Colin decided to find a bigger premises as Portland Street was a little bit too small for what he wanted to do, he set out to find better premises. He found a main road site on Liverpool Road, Birkdale, Southport.
When he brought the garage, Colin set out to convert it into an MOT test station; then he wanted a name for the garage which would later be called Krakajak and Southport Motoring Services would be amalgamated and seize to exist. Meanwhile he was thinking of branding and the hard part was to find what type of font to use.
Colin used an old envelope to design the writing for Krakajak and he called triangular shaped wedges. The idea he come up with was brilliant because it became hard for people to replicate would squash and stretch it to make it fit on printed literature.
In August of 1994 Krakajak was offically open for general repairs, servicing & MOT testing.
Birkdale Car Centre in 1994
Krakajak Liverpool Road in 1994
2017 - 2019
In 2017 Krakajak was modernised with a fresh lick of paint and some new window decals and signage above the windows. The garage was also signed up to some social media sites which are Facebook, Twitter & Instagram pages.
In 2017 the staff had the idea of being Mini specialists because there isn't many garages who can fix Minis without going to the main dealer and paying silly money to fix them, and not to mention that we sold them as well. The initial idea was discontinued a year later.
Krakajak Liverpool Road in 2017
Krakajak - MINI Specalists in 2017
2019 - 2020
In 2019 Colin decided he wanted to down size and semi-retire, so he set out to find another premises; he found one in the middle of Southport Town Centre down Vulcan Street. Colin had the whole plot of land redeveloped to how he wanted it and the building was kitted out with a fully functioning Class 4 & 7 MOT test bay including two brand new ramps.
With the mist of the COVID-19 pandemic everything was put on a hold with moving.
2024 & The Future
After the mist of COVID-19 and another few years later KRAKAJAK finally move into the brand new state of the art garage in the middle of Southport Town Centre.
Krakajak Vulcan Street in 2019
Krakajak Vulcan Street in 2020