Catch Hannah Gordon, a Newmarket-based mechanic, on Channel 4’s Mend It for Money

Hannah Gordon, 34, a mechanic who previously lived in Cambridge, will appear on Mend It for Money on Channel 4 this evening (February 24) at 5pm.

Filmed in Glasgow, in a specially created HQ, Mend It for Money combines high-end restorations with fascinating social history, as some of the best restorers in the country give objects a new lease of life.

This, however, is a restoration show with a twist as for each of the three restorations featured, two of the country’s top craftspeople will compete to get the job.

The restorers must go head-to-head, pitching their plans to bring prized items back to life. Crucially, they must estimate how much profit the item will make when sold and agree a profit share deal with the owner.

Narrated by Tom Allen, the show follows the entire restoration process and also gives the story behind each item, delving into some of the specialist restoration techniques used to restore the pieces to their former glory.

Hannah, a mechanic and car enthusiast who works in Newmarket – she owns the SPA Motor Company based at the Studlands Business Centre – is one such talented restorer.

Passionate about classic and vintage cars, Hannah specialises in car restoration. She has appeared in two episodes of the programme so far – including the pilot – and is set to feature in one more.

“We did the pilot a while ago now and that aired as a one-off in April 2020. It was received really well,” says Hannah, who has worked on cars since the age of about 14.

“Basically, people bring in items that they’ve got sitting around and we restore them.

“When you put your bid in, you say what percentage you want of the final sale price to cover your costs, and then you get restoring the item and then it gets sold.

"It’s a competition between two restorers and then they try and get the best price for the item.”

Although Hannah went head-to-head with another person restoring cars, she says there are also antiques, furniture and old toys. “Anything that’s looking a bit damaged and old gets restored,” she notes.

The series is filmed, Hannah reveals, in an old Rolls Royce warehouse in Glasgow. So how did she became involved?

“I’m on social media quite a lot and my Twitter handle is Female Mechanic (@femalemechanic1) and they were looking for mechanics. I’m from a classic car background as well.”

There are 20 hour-long episodes in this series, which is the first. The majority of them were filmed in lockdown, meaning there were rules to be adhered to, and there were three cars featured.

Hannah’s first two episodes, featuring an MGC and a Volkswagen Golf, were shown on February 12 and February 16, with the final one – featuring a Porsche 928 – on tonight.

Hannah was given 10 days to restore each car before they went off for auction. “It’s a bit different to the antiques,” she explains.

“We brought the cars back to our workshops, but the antiques were done in Glasgow. The cars then had to be transported up to Glasgow.”

Happily, Hannah wasn’t too nervous about being filmed. “It was actually really good fun,” she says. “When we were filming, it was more like having a chat with people – it was quite informal.

"Then the cameras came to the workshop and it was just quite natural to be working in and around them.”

Hannah, who has also written for car magazines and given talks in schools, competed against another mechanic from London.

To find out how she got on, head to channel4.com to watch the two previous programmes and tune in this evening at 5pm for the third installment of this classic car saga.

Hannah has since received offers for more television work, adding: “I’ve had a couple of other production companies get involved, I suppose because of being a female in the auto industry.

"It’s quite a different career path for someone, so there’s been a lot of interest around that and around promoting women in the automotive industry.

“And the classic side of things is always popular. People love to see cars restored. So there’s definitely been some interest in getting some more content out there.

“I do some YouTube stuff anyway but there’s been some different offers come through, which has been really good. I do really enjoy doing filming and it is something I want to do more of.”

Mend It for Money is on each weekday at 5pm on Channel 4, until February 26.

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