The third annual Enterprise Repair Partner Event took place on 11 July 2024 at the prestigious Chesford Grange Hotel, Kenilworth marking the second consecutive year the venue has hosted this key gathering. Attended by industry leaders, partners, and stakeholders, the event highlighted the innovations, challenges, and successes within the vehicle repair and mobility sector. ARC360 was on hand to find out more.
Ryan Johnson, Senior Vice President of UK and Ireland Enterprise Mobility, kicked off the event with an inspiring keynote address centred around the changing world of mobility, the rebranding of the business and the value of its people.
He emphasised Enterprise’s longstanding commitment to ‘leading by listening’ and building bespoke solutions tailored to the needs of vehicle manufacturers, repairers, and customers.
“At Enterprise, our mission is to advance the world one journey at a time,” stated Ryan, reflecting on the company’s 65-year history, spanning 90 countries, and with a fleet of 2.3 million vehicles worldwide – including 150,000 in the UK.
Ryan also addressed the challenge of integrating Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) into Enterprise’s fleet and the need for innovative solutions and infrastructure development to support the transition to greener fleets.
“It is an exciting but challenging time – we want to be a central part of helping to connect vehicle manufacturers, repairers and customers,” stated Ryan.
Repair highlights and strategic insights
Nick Sweetman, Assistant Vice President of Vehicle Operations for UK and Ireland, Enterprise Mobility, presented the highlights and strategic insights across its repair network from the past year. He celebrated the successes in relationships, data integration through Entegral, vehicle collection, and engineering performance.
However, he also pointed out areas of opportunity, including deployment strategies, parts management, delegated authority, and enhancing EV capabilities.
On the customer repair side of the business he highlighted the growth in the number of partners and a static work mix as key success factors. He also reiterated the point that over three quarters of work volumes come with an Enterprise mobility solution – relieving the costs and pressures associated with courtesy car provision.
Joining Nick on stage to announce the new LKQ Loyalty Programme, Danny Watkins, Head of Network Relationship Management at LKQ, explained how the initiative would result in network members accruing points on purchases to redeem on training and equipment.
The scheme is officially set to get underway from 1 August and Enterprise will be communicating full details with its network in the coming weeks.
Technological advances
The event featured several insightful presentations from key industry figures.
Mark Marshall, BMW Group Technical Trainer, along with Andrew Rodbourne, Manager- Bodyshop Development at BMW UK highlighted BMW’s advancements in EV technology, now in its fifth generation. They showcased the new sixth-generation models which are set to offer a 620-mile range and 30% quicker charging times.
Mark also highlighted how the business currently has 1,000 hydrogen IX5 vehicles on test – illustrating the brand’s commitment to diverse green technologies.
With the technology advances the manufacturer has made, Andrew emphasised the necessity for BMW vehicles to be repaired in its approved network and promoted its total loss borderline programme as a valuable support solution.
Tom Leggett, Vehicle Technology Manager at Thatcham Research, was next to explore the advances in ACE+ (Assisted and Automated; Connected; Electrified; and Everything Else), shedding light on the future of vehicle technology and its implications for the repair industry.
Tom said, “Systems will get more advanced and more complicated. This is partly being driven by demand from regulators around increasing safety standards, and a lot of technology is now fitted as standard. We’ve not yet seen the reduction in claims frequency we’d like to, but there has been a reduction in severity.”
Industry trends
Paul Sell, Managing Director of Trend Tracker, provided a market insight, noting the rapid evolution from surplus demand to surplus supply in the repair market. Paul said, “While repair volumes have seen a slight decline, the overall outlook remains positive,” highlighting increased capacity and reduced cycle times.
He continued, “However, the skills shortage remains a key issue requiring investment, along with the need to cope with the plethora of new manufacturers entering the rapidly growing BEV market in coming years.”
Steve Silverwood, Managing Director, ECA, provided an overview of energy in accident repair centres. Despite a decrease from 2022’s peak, Steve was keen to emphasise that average energy costs per job were still 55% higher than 2020 (pre-pandemic). He urged repairers to buy better, use less and pay for what you use. Steve cited that behaviour was one of the most basic costs controls within a bodyshop. He also predicted a 10-20% increase in the next two years.
Integration and optimisation
Olly Chambers, Assistant Vice President of Sales and Operations at Entegral, provided an update on technological advancements. He discussed the exponential growth of CAPS in the UK, which now connects 1.3 million claims per annum and supports 90% of UK repairers. Olly offered various guidance around CAPS’ best practice to ensure users were optimising the opportunity it presents.
He referenced The CAPS National Advisory Council which provides expert-led governance, explaining that future development is in the hands of industry leaders and experts. Two areas of current focus for development are vehicle recovery and glass repair/replace, whilst a new scorecard has also been launched to get data to users faster. The next phase of development is assignment management enhancements and enhanced WIP analytics.
Closing out the session Olly provided a brief update on management system, Bodyshop 360 – which is composed of five modules including the customer app launched earlier this year and updates to Core.
The event concluded with an interactive panel session hosted by Stuart Sandell, Assistant Vice President of Sales for UK and Ireland, which centred on the challenges of attracting new talent and retaining existing skillsets within the sector. References were made to the need for government support, cross industry collaboration, better promotion of the industry, changing generational behaviours, and the need to listen.
The Enterprise Repair Partner Event 2024 showcased the resilience, innovation, and collaborative spirit of the vehicle repair and mobility sector. With a focus on technological advancements, strategic partnerships, and overcoming industry challenges, the event reinforced Enterprise’s role as a leader and connector within the industry.
Enterprise Repair Partner Awards 2024
The evening culminated in the prestigious Enterprise Repair Partner Awards 2024, hosted by Andrew Mackenzie, UK and Ireland Network Manager. The awards recognised outstanding performance and contributions across various regions. The winners included:
- Best Fleet Repair Partner – South East: Grove Autos
- Best Customer Repair Partner – South East: Drive Vauxhall – Bury St Edmonds
- Best Fleet Repair Partner – South West: Smart Bodyshop Solutions Ltd – Exeter
- Best Customer Repair Partner – South West: Carbody Banbury Ltd
- Best Fleet Repair Partner – North West: Lichfield ARC
- Best Customer Repair Partner – North West: KC Autos – Northwich
- Best Fleet Repair Partner – North East: Bodyline Dunston Ltd
- Best Customer Repair Partner – North East: Vertu Accident Repair – Teesside
- Best Fleet Repair Partner – Scotland & Northern Ireland: QA Vehicle Solutions
- Best Customer Repair Partner – Scotland & Northern Ireland: Arnold Clark – Ayr
- Customer Excellence 2024: Rye Street Broxbourne Ltd & KC Autos – Blackburn
Guest Speaker
Guest speaker Gerald Ratner, widely credited with making the ultimate off-the-cuff gaffe with his infamous ‘it’s total crap’ description of some of his company’s products, entertained attendees by regaling his riches to rags story. Gerald closed by telling attendees: “Value what you’ve got – brand is everything. It takes years to build up so cherish it.”
