The London Repairers Alliance, set up last year to combat spiralling overheads and low labour rates within the M25 area, is mounting a £250,000 marketing campaign in conjunction with credit hire/repair firm Helphire.

The campaign, designed to realign the mix of work in the bodyshop away from insurance towards retail, will be ignited by a series of 40-second radio ads, initially on Classic FM, combined with 10-second bursts during prime drive-time slots. It is intended to run until the end of the year.

Industry expert Robert Hadfield, who attended the last LRA meeting, acknowledged it was a “sensitive area” for repairers to get involved, but said the alliance was “realigning available work in the market, augmenting insurance work by attracting new business”.

It would not “create conflict with insurers”, he said. “The LRA will grow in terms of numbers and marketing strength bringing other initiatives into the fold.” The alliance is thought to involve 60 repairers.