Repairer network ABS is to redraw the boundaries of the regional business areas into which its 240 repair centres are divided. Richard Miles, ABS’ technical services manager, says: “It makes less sense as time passes to allocate high levels of resources to less densely-populated areas.

“The new structure will allow us to work more efficiently by dividing the country into fewer regions that, we believe, better represent the business patterns of the repair industry across the UK.”

The change will include a reorganisation of ABS’s team of regional network managers, but Richard says this should not impact upon the support that repairers receive.

“We will be taking some of the admin burden away from the regional managers and transferring it to our head office, freeing them up to spend more time helping repairers maximise their opportunities,” he says.

ABS is said to be courting franchise dealers with high quality or specialised body repair facilities to join the network.