in an equally new, purpose-designed building on Addendum Lane between Hamilton and Mills Creek.

It doesn't matter what make or model your car is, Rayclan will service it, repair it, flush its transmission, paint it, put it through Transport Control, or do whatever else is necessary to ensure trouble-free driving.

The company and the building may be brand new, but the people behind Rayclan are not new in the automotive business.

Many of them worked at Ray Brothers, before that company became part of the HWP group.

The main Ray behind Ray Brothers is the same man as the Ray in the name Rayclan: pipe-smoking William (Cheese) Ray, an energetic Bermudian original who has spent his life in the automotive business and restores and drives old Bermuda carriages in his spare time.

The clan to which Rayclan refers are some of his children and grandchildren.

Anyone who knows Mr. Ray will know that his idea of retirement has nothing to do with `doing nothing', so he is on board at Rayclan as a consultant, keeping it all in the family.

"We all worked at Ray Brothers,'' explained Sharon Greenslade, William's daughter and the vice president at Rayclan.

Sharon's son Daniel, who is the president of Rayclan and its service manager, was a teenager in those days, although he spent as much time as possible at Ray Brothers, learning the only trade he has ever been interested in.

"Daniel went off to New England Tech, to learn the automotive business, with a view to having his own business,'' Mrs. Greenslade said.

"When he came back to Bermuda, we said we'd start our own garage.'' Rayclan is that dream come true.

"Daniel was always interested in spray-painting and auto body work,` Mrs.

Greenslade said.

"He did an associate degree programme and already had considerable knowledge.

On top of that, he loves working with cars, and we all know how much better your work is when you really like what you do.'' "We formed the business in May, 1998,'' she continued. She had a landscaping business at the time, which she sold to give her full attention to Rayclan.

Her eldest daughter, Robin Gaglio, came on board as Rayclan's service reception manager and will, one day, take over when Mrs. Greenslade decides to retire and smoke a pipe.

Rayclan is truly a family business. Robin's sister, Amy Greenslade, is the new company's service receptionist while home on summer break from University.

"We were thinking of a name for the company,'' Mrs. Greenslade recalled.

"HWP didn't use the name Ray Brothers when they bought the business, so Robin suggested, that since we were the Ray family, we should call ourselves the Rayclan.'' The decisions to open a business, and what name it should have, were not hard to make, so the first real hurdle was: where to put it? "There was a car lot on Addendum Lane that my father owned,'' Mrs. Greenslade recalled.

"He used to store cars on the site, before he retired. He decided he would put a building on the lot, and was happy to let us rent the space. It all developed from there.'' What developed is 16,000 square feet of space, built as an automotive garage and therefore ideally suited to its purpose, which opened on March 31.

"The original drawings for the building made it look like a box. We redesigned it, working with the architects, to suit the needs of the business, Daniel Greenslade recalled.

"With a new building, we're growing into the space, rather than fitting ourselves around something that was built for another purpose. It enables us to do better work.'' Locals will remember Mrs. Greenslade from a company called Executemps, which she and Carol Carvalho started in the early 1980s. Others will know her for Island Landscaping, which she ran for eight years.

"They were all service businesses,'' Mrs. Greenslade pointed out.

"Daniel worked for Paul Wakefield on Sundeck Cruises in the hospitality industry. We all have a service background. What made Ray Brothers successful was that you could always find the boss.'' As she finished speaking, entirely by coincidence, there came the smell of pipe tobacco. In walked that very boss, in his new role as consultant.

"The little things are the sign of good service,'' Mr. Ray said, without missing a beat, `like picking you up and dropping you back off to let you get on with your day. Everyone provides a service, but it's the extras that make you special.'' Say cheese: William "Cheese'' Ray, consultant and progenitor of the Ray clan.

You can always find the boss: Sharon Greenslade, vice president of Rayclan Ltd.

Daniel Greenslade, president of Rayclan Ltd., takes a car on a ride on Bermuda's biggest car elevator. Mr. Greenslade is also the company's service manager.