Author: Mark Hadaway

Tyne is right for Steer

Steer Automotive Group has increased its presence in the North East with the acquisition of Tyne Tees Vehicle Repair Group (TTVRG). Founded in 1970 and now boasting five sites in the region, TTVRG is a family-owned business with well-established accident management and insurer client relationships and a turnover of £8.3m reported in its most recent filed accounts. 

The multi-award-winning Steer Automotive Group will support TTVRG’s further development in the region with investment in technology and geographical reach.

CAPS enhances security protocols

CAPS has enhanced its security and compliance protocols by updating its data schema, which defines the scope and validation of data shared on the platform during a motor claim.

The latest version enables CAPS to validate new values while reflecting the growing integration of claims and systems used both within the application and bodyshop sectors. New fields introduced also enable work providers to add more context to the insurance provision for a claim; for example, whether the excess has been waived.

Shepherd joins Advantage Parts Solutions board

Dave Shepherd has joined the global team of Advantage Parts Solutions as Non-Executive Director. Shepherd, whose distinguished career includes roles with the Institute of the Motor Industry, Thatcham Research and Solera, has been appointed to help steer the company’s long-term strategic plan in the OEM parts supply space.

Advantage Parts Solutions’ Co-Founder and CEO Bob Kirstiuk said, “For over 30 years Dave has been regarded as one of Europe’s most brilliant automotive minds, and it’s an honour to have his expertise on the team. His career insights will become extraordinarily valuable to the team as we continue to optimise the OEM parts supply chain.”

Fix Auto UK develops Midlands network

Fix Auto UK has continued its expansion in the Midlands with the announcement that Bowles Vehicle Repair has joined its network and will now operate as Fix Auto Leicester.

The appointment comes after extensive development which has seen three near derelict farm buildings replaced with two interconnecting units totalling more than 11,000 sqft. One has been laid out specifically with 13 workbays for all panel and strip and fit work and the second is a dedicated paint shop complete with three booths, one for LCVs.  

Repairify continues growth strategy

Repairify has completed the acquisition of One Guard Inspections for an undisclosed sum. One Guard Inspections is a Texas-based vehicle inspection company with a network of thousands of certified inspectors covering the United States and Canada.

The deal is part of Repairify’s continued growth strategy and will enable it to move into new market segments, such as vehicle diagnostics and mechanical failures.

Vella Group celebrates first female VDA

The Vella Group has announced that Jordanna Callaghan has become its first fully-trained female VDA. She has worked as a VDA assistant at the LV=General Insurance Sole Supply Site in Deeside for two years, but has shown the attitude and aptitude to go further and having completed her training will take up her new position in the coming months.

The Group said, “We’re committed to operating an inclusive and equal environment and hope to sell our industry as a fantastic place for women to achieve too.”

Redde Northgate reports strong interim results

Redde Northgate has published its interim results for the six months ending 31 October, reporting a 21.9% increase in revenues to £522.9m from the same period last year.

This is above board expectations and driven by a return of accident and incident volumes to about 90% of pre-Covid-19 levels. Business highlights from the period include significant new multi-year contract wins with the likes of Tesco, Admiral and another major insurer with lifetime contract revenues in excess of £200m.

e2e under new leadership

Jim Loughran has taken over from Neil Joslin at the head of e2e Total Loss Vehicle Management (e2e).

He brings with him 30 years’ experience with blue chip brands including BT, Disney, ING Bank, QBE Insurance and Rolls Royce Aerospace, and has a strong track record in affecting business transformation and servicing customers within technology-led organisations.

Halfords continues motor services evolution

Halfords has agreed to purchase tyre and automotive servicing, maintenance and repair company Axle Group Holdings on a cash-free, debt-free basis for £62m. The acquisition, expected to complete on 9 December, is part of Halfords’ wider strategy to focus more on motoring services.

Post-completion, it expects to have 604 garages, 234 consumer vans and 190 commercial vans. Including retail stores this will mean a combined total of over 1,400 fixed or mobile motoring services locations.

Lookers adopts AX aftercare solution

UK motor retailer Lookers has selected AX to deliver a seamless accident aftercare solution to its customers. It will be introduced at 129 Lookers sites and is expected to increase revenues and improve customer retention through better aftercare service.

As part of the partnership, AX’s account management team has delivered comprehensive in-person and virtual training for Lookers employees.

Going the distance for charity

The Grove Group’s Kate Chaplin has raised more than £600 for the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity by walking over 500,000 steps during November. She took a total of 503,091 steps in the month, an equivalent of 10 miles a day, and has so far raised £615 for the worthy cause.

Kate’s page is still open for donations

Carzam muscles into online retail space

Carzam has secured £112m of investment in its first year of trading and is now pledging to take the fight to online car retailers Cazoo and Cinch. It expects to generate first-year revenues of £150m from nearly 13,500 individual sales.

Founded by BMW chief executive Peter Waddell, Carzam promises to deliver used cars nationwide within 24 hours, while also offering buyers a 14-day window to decide whether to keep the vehicle, and a 100-day guarantee. 

Pothole payments pass £16m

Drivers in the UK received more than £16m in compensation for pothole damage caused to their vehicles between 2018 and 2020.

The information was revealed by webuyanycar following a Freedom of Information request to every council and borough in the UK. It found that 2.48 million potholes were reported during that period.

ARC360 Back to the Future showreel

Register now to watch the edited showreel from ARC360’s Back to the Future event which took place yesterday at the British Motor Museum. This 30 minute showreel (1.30-2.00pm Wednesday 1 December) will bring together some of the key takeaways shaping the industry today and into the future.

Register now

Ageas expands green parts programme

Ageas has announced it now uses green parts in between 20% and 25% of its repairs. This follows the expansion in March 2020 of its green parts programme to combine its salvage operation with its green parts supply.

As such, the undamaged parts of customer cars written off are fed back into Ageas’s green parts supply chain, creating a circular economy.

VM models meet Thatcham Research gradings

Thatcham Research and Euro NCAP has passed all seven vehicles recently tested according to its new Assisted Driving Gradings, introduced last October to support the adoption and clear marketing of assisted driving technology.

The seven vehicles were the BMW iX3 (169 points), the Ford Mustang Mach-E (152), Cupra Formentor (144), Polestar 2 (135), Hyundai Ioniq 5 (126), Toyota Yaris (109), and Vauxhall Mokka-e (101).

Matthew Avery, Thatcham Research’s Chief Research Strategy Officer, said: “Assisted Driving technology must strike the right balance between offering a meaningful level of assistance and ensuring that motorists don’t sit back and let the system do the driving.”

EV uptake leaving ecosystem behind

Thatcham Research has warned that the electric vehicle ecosystem is unprepared for the expected shift to electrification. The number of battery electric vehicles (BEV) registered in September fell just short of the total sold in 2019, accounting for 15.2% of the market, but uptake is expected to accelerate with Thatcham Research predicting that by 2050 BEVs will make up 95% of the UK car parc. 

To ensure these cars can be well-serviced, it has urged vehicle manufacturers to build repairability into design and ensure that the independent repair sector can access specialist EV equipment.

Fix Auto Slough confirms expansion

Fix Auto Slough is relocating to a new, larger site less than a mile away from its existing location. Owner Ranjit Gill, who also owns Fix Auto Uxbridge, believes the new 6,000sqft unit will support an increase in capacity.

The investment is expected to form a template for other Fix Auto UK franchisees looking to relocate.

Motofix marks two-year Trustpilot anniversary

Motofix has announced that its Trustpilot rating score climbed from 4.4 to 4.8 in the last 10 months despite the challenges posted by the various lockdowns.

The group has just celebrated its two-year anniversary since appointing Trustpilot as its preferred platform, and to maximise the insights it receives has appointed Sam Spencer as the group’s new central customer services manager.

BGL and Auto Windscreens strengthen partnership

BGL Insurance and Auto Windscreens have enhanced their relationship by launching a new digital claims portal that will allow customers to report a glass claim via their motor insurance portal, with all relevant data transferred to the Auto Windscreens booking system in real-time.

This will enable customers to book an appointment with a glass technician directly.

Auto Windscreens and BGL Insurance have been in partnership since 2013.

Silverlake launches new charity initiative

Silverlake Automotive Recycling’s fundraising initiative has teamed up with Global’s Make Some Noise to accelerate and enhance the support it gives to charities.

Relaunched as UDonateacar, the initiative enables customer to get a valuation for their vehicle and choose how much of that they wish to donate, 100% of which goes to Global’s Make Some Noise. The UDonateacar team will then collect the car for free, handle all the DVLA paperwork, make the payments to the owner and the charity and provide a donation receipt. 

Ezi-Methods breaks three-million download barrier  

Ezi-Methods has announced the three millionth download of its intuitive vehicle repair methods, just over a year after it celebrated its two millionth download.

Ezi-Methods offers more than 68,000 repair methods spanning 57 makes of vehicles, 1,005 models encompassing 1,414 body styles – statistics which evolve and increase daily as it continually adds to its library.

ARC360 celebrates return to live events

ARC360 made a welcome return to physical events at the British Motor Museum on Thursday, 25 November. ‘Back to the Future,’ held under the ARC360 banner of Gaining Ground Together, saw industry leaders from all sectors meet to discuss the challenges of 2021 and the potential solutions that might help to ensure a successful 2022.

Underlining the difficulties still faced by the automotive incident repair aftermarket, a live poll of delegates found that nearly four in 10 businesses (38%) are still operating with less than 40% of work colleagues back at work full time.