New £500,000 bodyshop opens in Huddersfield

Yorkshire-based bodyshop Group Alton Cars has officially opened its brand-new Huddersfield accident repair centre.

Alton Cars Huddersfield is a 17,000 sq ft state-of-the-art, purpose built bodyshop site situated just off the A58 Leeds Road in the Town, with easy access to the M62 motorway and within a short drive of Bradford, Halifax, Mirfield and Dewsbury. The building - a former warehouse - has been transformed in just 12 weeks thanks to a £500,000 investment and the project management skills of Group Chairman Tony Parish, who was on site every day during the build.

Tony, who is no stranger to major bodyshop site relocations having moved his flagship Leeds site in 2007, personally oversaw the design, building and purchase of new equipment. He commented: "I'm really pleased with the look, feel and flow of this new bodyshop. From an empty shell, we've put in two large USI Italia booths and ovens, prep decks, 4 bays of Korek and a new Car-O-Liner jig with Car-O-Vision software, plus a fast-repair process. We've completely refurbished the building, including brand-new lighting and heating, and have put in a fantastic customer waiting area which accompanies over 100 parking spaces."

Julian Milner, Group Managing Director explained the reasons behind the move: "We had outgrown our old Huddersfield site, which we acquired in 2007. As an old building, it wasn't constructed for the way we repair cars today and had relatively little parking space, so was restricting our growth," he said. "We've designed the new Huddersfield site to enable us to obtain better efficiencies out of a similar number of productive staff, and are expecting to gain a 20% increase in turnover as a result."

Tony concluded: "Now we have built this extra capacity into our business, we'll be marketing hard to fill it. We'll be working with our existing insurer and accident management clients as well as looking to secure new business, and we're seeking to become approved for a number of leading motor manufacturers, which fits the strategies of our other four sites."

Alton Cars Huddersfield - previously known as Huddersfield Accident Repair - has moved from its previous location on St Andrews Road in Aspley, to the new location on Old Fieldhouse Lane, off Leeds Road, Huddersfield. See altoncars.co.uk for more information.