A mobile alloy wheel repair and refurbishment service operated by Snows Motor Group has created new jobs during its very first year.

The new operation – called Kerbasaurus – is based at Snows’ Accident Repair Centre (SARC) in Southampton, from where a fleet of brightly-coloured vans service customers throughout the south of England.

Their mission is to repair and restore wheels damaged in minor accidents, with a sister ‘Chipasaurus’ operation fixing windscreen defects. The two-pronged operation is part of Snows’ SMART repair offering – SMART being a motor trade acronym for Small and Medium Area Repair Technology.

Daniel Bush, head of bodyshop operations at SARC, said:”The Kerbasaurus stats are certainly impressive. Since the start of the year, 5,500 wheels have undergone cosmetic repair in one of the mobile workshops; while 1,120 diamond cut wheels have been fully restored at SARC in Southampton, where they are refurbished using laser precision machinery to re-create their original shimmer.”

Mobile technicians ensure that the damaged wheels are removed correctly, which are then passed to trained colleagues who get to work on the imperfect surfaces. Temporary wheels are fitted to cars while this takes place, in the same way that a spare is used in the event of a puncture.

Named after the velociraptors in the 2015 film Jurassic World, three Kerbasaurus vans are on the road driven by skilled technicians with a fourth on order.

Most of the work undertaken involves preparing used cars for sale at Snows Group dealerships, of which there are more than 50 across southern England. But as the service expands, the aim will be to venture into retail sales and encourage individual car owners to get involved.

‘‘The Kerbasaurus team have been busy since the very first day,’’ added Bart Sieprawski, SMART operations manager. ‘‘We had high hopes that the service would prove popular but the level of demand has taken us by surprise. It’s possible that our SMART repair service might even overtake the bodyshop in terms of scale in years to come.

‘‘We have five members of staff on the team at the moment – there’s one person in each van and two on the static operation. The biggest challenge we face as the service expands is to find enough skilled staff.’’

The SMART repair operation is now central to the work undertaken at Snows’ Southampton Accident Repair Centre, which itself is operating at full capacity. The team are able to undertake all manner of car repairs, from minor paintwork scratches to major bodywork rebuilds, using state-of-the-art tools, factory-trained technicians and manufacturer-matched paint.

‘‘All our work is based on customer recommendations,’’ explained Bush. ‘‘We offer a lifetime guarantee on everything we do and our customers know their car has been repaired by manufacturer-trained technicians."

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