New accreditation unlocks growth potential for repair centre

Adlington-based ST Accident Repair Centre has been awarded the BSI Kitemark Accreditation for Vehicle Damage Repair, which will enable it to work with a broader range of customers.

The BSI Kitemark is an accredited standard that reassures insurers and retail customers that the highest standards of repair will be carried out on a vehicle.

Now that ST Accident Repair Centre has achieved this Kitemark it will be able to deal with the UK’s larger insurers for approved accident and damage repairs, as well as directly with the public all from its Adlington base.

Jamie Baxter, business development director of parent company DA Techs, said: “It has taken 18 months to gain this accreditation – it isn’t something that is easily won. We have invested in our staff with training courses, purchased new equipment that the standard requires and implemented maintenance and calibration schedules for all our tools and equipment.

“We have installed a new workflow IT system to capture all aspects of the job that is also live for the insurance companies to view jobs progress. It really was a very thorough process and we are incredibly proud to have achieved it.”

The body repair service is part of the DA Techs Group which includes a growing and highly successful alloy wheel repair service. The company can assist customers in dealing with insurers and hire vehicles, from vehicle collection through to completion.

Smart Techs was established in 2019 by Jamie Baxter and Phillip Barnard who joined forces with Andrew Wren, aspiring to develop efficient and cost-effective premium vehicle repair services, after having worked in the auto repair industry for over 20 years.

Andrew, director of Smart Techs, says: “Smart Techs was launched in 2019, with us working with dealerships repairing cosmetic damage. This grew quickly with car dealerships across the North West using our service and our sister company DA Techs, providing the ‘one-stop-shop’ for trade alloys and bodywork.

“We have grown so much since the start and we’ve now rebranded the Bodyshop as ST Accident Repair centre, recruiting our own on-site vehicle damage assessor to be able to carry out insurance approved estimates.”