Activate Group Ltd (AGL) has opened its flagship body shop as part of its new Activate Accident Repair division.

L-R: Shane Maybank, MD, Activate Accident Repair; Hannah Wilcox, CEO, AGL: Mark Wilcox, chairman, AGL

Founded in 2015, AGL specialises in accident management services and the new body shop division is part of a strategic growth plan that aims to meet demand for high-quality repair centres in historically underserved urban areas. Located in Birmingham, the inaugural body shop will be joined by four further sites, including ones at Glasgow and Leeds that will open before the end of the year; in total, AGL will invest £6m in the division over 12 months.

Opened this week with an exclusive event for more than 50 customers, the Birmingham site has been operational since early August. The purpose-designed, 18,000ft2 facility has the capacity to repair up to 16 vehicles a day. The other four sites, all 15,000ft2, will be able to process up to 12 vehicles per day each. Once all five sites are up and running, volume is anticipated to achieve 16,000+ repairs per annum, with all sites able to repair structural composite materials as well as all safety features, EVs and HEVs. All sites will also have a fast-track repair lane for non-structural repairs to reduce key-to-key times on smaller jobs.

AGL CEO Hannah Wilcox said: “Feedback has been amazing, and our customers seem as excited as we are about the direction we are taking and our ambition to set new standards in the industry.”

The new division joins the Motor Repair Network, Sopp+Sopp and Sopp Parts in the AGL group of companies.

Wilcox explained: “The relationship we have with our network of 200 body shops is not altered by the creation of our own five-site body shop division. AGL will grow significantly this year, with the number of claims we handle projected to increase by around 50% over the next twelve months. This means there is more than enough work for our third-party network and our own body shops too.”