Weekly News Round-Up: Friday 26 March 2021

ILC ARTICLE

26th March 2021

Thinking time tops poll

Building thinking time into your day was voted the most important habit a repairer could have at the first session of The Future in Focus, ARC360’s week-long digital event held in association with I love Claims.

‘Thinking time’ topped the poll with 69%, with 67% of the audience voting for the advice to ‘seek first to understand, then be understood’. Meanwhile, six in 10 agreed that it was critical to ‘know yourself’ and to ‘begin with the end in sight’.

All recordings of this week’s The Future in Focus sessions will be made available next week.

Claims exchanges continue upward trend

Claims exchange volumes continued an upward trend for week ending 20 March 2021 with a further three per cent increase according to the CAPS Claims Analysis Report.

It is the third consecutive week claims exchange volumes have risen from 76% week ending 6 March to 85% week ending 20 March.

Meantime, supply chain transmissions reduced by two per cent to 89% week ending 20 March – experiencing the first dip in five weeks.

asTech acquires Red

Repairify Inc, trading as asTech, has acquired Red (EU) Ltd and Red Autocentres.

The combined companies will operate as Red EU and represent the 11th add-on acquisition for asTech.

“Red is an exciting acquisition that enables asTech to further broaden its suite of global tools and solutions for customers. With demand for ADAS repair and calibration services rising, asTech looks forward to continuing to be the solution provider of choice for customers seeking to properly repair today’s sophisticated car parc,” said Paul Cifelli, Managing Director of Kinderhook Industries.

Copart continues to make headlines

Copart UK has been awarded the prestigious CCA Global Standard Accreditation by the Customer Contact Association for a second year.

The CCA Global Standard, recognised as the definitive standard for customer contact operations, was awarded to Copart for a second time, following an intensive ‘year two’ assessment, performed virtually over a two-day period.

Meanwhile, the business plans to expand its Sandy Operation Centre by 27-acres as part of its ongoing growth programme. The planned expansion will provide a total of just under 60 operational acres at Sandy and will double the annual storage capacity at this location to 80,000 vehicles.

Repair estimate volumes predicted to rise throughout H1

Repair estimates were tracking at 61% year-on-year during February 2021 according to Trend Tracker which predicts a continued upward trend for the remaining first half of the year.

Utilising data such as .gov, apple, google mobility etc as well as other market sources, in combination with critical sources of data from its partners Audatex, Trend Tracker predicts repair estimate volumes will continue on an upward trajectory for H1 2021.

Activate Group appoints Victoria Turner as CCO

Activate Group Ltd has strengthened its commercial function with the appointment of Victoria Turner as Chief Commercial Officer.

Victoria, who joined the business in 2020 as CEO of Activate Accident Repair, will lead the commercial function in addition to her existing role in the fast-growing repair division.

Hannah Wilcox, CEO of Activate Group said: “We are well-placed to continue our impressive growth trajectory, and ramping up the commercial function under Victoria’s leadership will give us the strategic focus to achieve our vision of being the transformational leader in accident management.”

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AW Repair Group makes it 11

AW Repair Group has opened a ‘technology-packed, future ready site’ in Lincoln.

The 14,000sqft, BS10125 accredited site offers significant EV battery storage, ADAS calibration equipment and is prepared for the addition of a specialist multi-material bay as further demand rises. The site also complies with the company’s PAS2060 carbon neutrality standard.

Andrew Walsh, Founder and CEO, said: “We not only have the technology but also the awareness and training in our teams to ensure we are fully ready for the future. It’s no longer feasible to set up a new site in the traditional way and space has already been allocated for emerging technologies becoming the every day norm.”

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Fix Auto hits Trustpilot milestone

Fix Auto UK has recorded its 1,000th Trustpilot customer review.

Since January, its overall TrustScore has risen to an industry-leading 4.8 out of five, rating Fix Auto UK and its partners as excellent for customer service delivered. Eighty nine per cent of all reviews received have been rated as Excellent.

Meanwhile, Fix Auto Mid Devon owner Louise Woolacott along with daughters Erika and Alena plan to open a second site in the South West. The new site, which will include a specialised ADAS booth, will be known as Fix Auto Newton Abbot and is scheduled to be operational by the end of April.

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Businesses lead the EV charge

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has called for greater support for private retail uptake of electric vehicles, following new figures showing businesses are twice as likely as consumers to make the switch from petrol or diesel.

SMMT analysis of new car registrations in 2020 show that just 4.6% of privately bought cars were battery electric vehicles (BEVs) – compared to 8.7% for businesses and large fleets. In total, consumers registered 34,324 BEVs in 2020, compared to 73,881 corporate registrations.

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said: “While last year’s bumper uptake of electric vehicles is to be welcomed, it’s clear this has been an electric revolution primarily for fleets, not families.”

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