The unlikely combination of Ken Dodd, the Bee Gees, Frank Bruno, Kermit the frog and Red Rum all have the distinction of having switched on the Blackpool illuminations at some stage of their career. A stone’s throw from the Golden Mile and adjacent to the newly developed £285m plan of Blackpool Gateway is Fylde Coast ARC.

The bodyshop, established in 1980 by owner David Hyland, has been on its present site for 12 years and still enjoys continual growth. Currently occupying 27,000 sq ft, with a further 15,000 sq ft of buildings available, lack of space isn’t an issue. When it needed to expand a few years ago, another building was simply redeveloped accordingly.

With a background in engineering, David built up the bodyshop in both a business and a literal sense – his craftsmanship is evident in the glass partitions dividing the offices and other areas around the building. His car repairing career began when he used to mend friends’ cars at weekends during his engineering days. ‘I could do anything with steel and it was much easier in those days because all cars were made from the same material,’ he said.

Just as cars have advanced from simply being made from one steel, bodyshop businesses have likewise moved on. The success of Fylde Coast ARC is testament to David and his team’s willingness to not just be open to new ideas, but to actively embrace them. While he was familiar with the ISO standards, David felt they weren’t a perfect fit in the repair arena. When PAS 125 came along, a proverbial light went on over his head. ‘From the word go, I knew PAS 125 was here to stay,’ said David. ‘And I saw that if we adopted it early we could use it to really raise our profile, which it did.’

No looking back
With the help of Muradi, Fylde Coast ARC was awarded its Kitemark in August 2007, the 12th bodyshop in the country to receive it and the first independent bodyshop in Lancashire. There’s been no looking back since. ‘PAS 125 is not just for high-end, high technology cars,’ said David. ‘It’s also for everyday vehicles, and I feel that we made the right decision in going for it when we did. Everything that’s come out of PAS 125 has been well-received by the staff and they’ve seen for themselves the benefits – not only with their own personal training growth, but also with the new business that's been secured since becoming Kitemark approved.’

Bodyshop Manager, Simon Hill has also experienced the positive changes in the workshop. He said, ‘We’ve certainly benefitted from better structure and processes in the business since we’ve been working to Kitemark specifications and it’s allowed insurers to see that everything’s being done to ensure the safety of that repair.’

Widening chasm
Both are unshakeable in their belief that for those repairers serious about staying in business and continuing to work in partnership with insurers, PAS 125 is the only way forward. ‘It’s like the haves and the have nots,’ said David, ‘and the chasm between them is getting wider. It’s the 11th hour for anyone wanting to move forward and those who aren’t adopting PAS are effectively taking the decision to step down from the repair arena.’

They are also adamant that the benefits absolutely outweigh the costs. ‘If cost is an issue, you really have to decide whether or not you want to be working with major work providers in the next few years,’ said Simon.

Working to PAS 125 procedures has manifested itself in planned changes to improve working practices. Simon said, ‘We were finding that the method manuals for certain operations were extensive and to keep printing them wasn’t very environmentally friendly; it seemed like a step back.’

After taking some advice from BSI, David commissioned an IT company to write a programme to allow technicians to view the manuals and print off the relevant sections at their workbays, ending unecessary printing of method manuals.

Although this addressed that particular issue, there are still challenges facing the industry. One of the biggest, David believes, is capacity management and how best to deal with it. ‘We have fixed resources and fixed SLAs. However, we also have a moving capacity; one contradicts the other and that’s not going to change. This creates challenges during high volume periods and we have to find an answer to managing it.’

The solution, certainly at Fylde Coast ARC, lies in IT and software being able to give the manager the information needed to make a decision on current and predicted capacity.

In addition, but with the same objective in mind, David and his team are in the process of setting up a new fast-track repair shop under the Fylde Coast banner – QRC, which will provide a 24-hour turnaround on every job. This will operate differently to the main shop, with earlier identification of repairs and parts needed, and the removal of anything that slows the process down. ‘There will be a huge cost benefit to work providers,’ said David. ‘The market will pay a higher premium for an express service, which will have higher operating costs than the main bodyshop, but will help work providers to control and reduce their non-fault costs. This should give a win/win situation for both parties.’

Change-friendly as he is, the current pace of change leaves even David reeling. As a keen mountaineer, he said, ‘Vehicle technology is like shifting ground underneath us. I’d just like to be able to stand on the mountain top for a while.’ However, some things have always been the same: in business, one person’s problem is another person’s opportunity. With an attitude that so openly adopts change and advancement, would it be too much to call a bodyshop owner from Blackpool a luminary?


Read all about it!

David has found words of wisdom in literature that he’s put to good use in his business.

Here, he selects three inspirational books:

Richard Branson’s Losing My Virginity helped some years ago when we were going through a difficult period after losing a major work provider. There was a line in it that read, ‘I have always believed that the only way to cope with a cash crisis is not to contract, but to try to expand out of it.’ Although some may disagree, that’s what we did and it gave us the drive we needed to move the business forward.

In Dr Eliyahu M Goldratt’s fictional The Goal, the main character manages a metalworking plant, where everything is always behind schedule. He and his team identify the bottlenecks in the business and immediately begin to implement change to speed up capacity. I took a huge lesson from that.

I also gain inspiration from The Bible. In the Book of Proverbs 15:22, it says, ‘Plans fail without good advice. But they succeed when there are many advisors.’ It is so important to take in as much wisdom as possible. It is good to recognise that there is a wealth of knowledge to be tapped into from industry partners and fellow repairers. There are a lot of people out there who have a much bigger picture of how to keep your business progressing and they are just waiting to be asked.

Finally, David’s father has been a key influencer on his decisions in business and throughout his life. He recalls some words of wisdom from him: ‘Opportunities are like snowflakes on a river: here for a moment, then gone forever’. David believes that, even in this tough economic climate, there will be opportunities out there in 2010.