Volvo’s Kettering body shop expands

The wide range of work undertaken by the body shop at Volvo Truck and Bus Centre East Anglia’s Kettering base has meant hiring extra reception staff to keep pace with demand.

Not content with the full conventional truck and bus body shop services of accident repair, chassis and cab straightening, trailer repairs and all manner of mods and fabrications, the seven-strong body shop team have targeted the agricultural sector and gained a enviable reputation for being able to tackle anything.

Body shop manager Paul Dade said, “Although we are a straightforward four-bay workshop with all the usual services and skills that you’d expect, we are taking on more and more work outside our core Volvo business.” With 34 years of Volvo’s expertise and training behind him Paul added, “We’re seeing an ever-wider range of kit in here for repair and rebuild. Tipping trailers, walking floors, tanks and various agricultural equipment is just the start of it. It’s good for business and it gives all the staff here interesting and varied work.”

The Kettering body shop also supports their Volvo used truck colleagues and a recent contract for an independent customer required the specialised knocking down of tractor units for containerisation and export.

“They needed to be sure that it was done professionally and that the vehicles would re-assemble safely and easily at the other end”, explained Paul. He concluded, “It says Volvo over the door and that is your guarantee of safety and quality. We can apply that to whatever vehicle, trailer or equipment you have.”