Fix Oswestry launches second site
Fix Auto UK’s flag will be raised above Wrexham this spring after the Hitch family, owners of Fix Auto Oswestry Welsh Borders, announced plans to invest in developing a new bodyshop in the North Wales town.
The brainchild of managing director Lee Hitch, the move is the first expansion for the family-owned business which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2013 and further underlines the belief the businessman has in the ever-developing Fix Auto UK network. The new bodyshop will operate under the name of Fix Auto Wrexham.
Conveniently situated in the centre of the Wrexham Industrial Estate, work has already commenced on transforming a bare industrial unit into a state-of-the-art repair bodyshop spanning 5,000 sq ft.
In order to meet output demands, central to the development will be a moveable spraybooth spanning six bays rather than a single conventional static spraybooth. The new centre will be managed by Shane Price, who is being promoted from estimator at Fix Auto Oswestry. While it will be initially staffed by three existing members of staff, a spraypainter, panel technician and administrator/receptionist will be recruited to join the team.
Lee said, ‘We’ve listened to our customers and we feel there’s a necessity to create a secondary repair centre in order to bridge a geographical gap between our existing site and Chester. Fix Auto UK is gaining strength and the necessity to support our customers’ needs are paramount.’
Lee added, ‘We have learned a lot from what our colleagues from throughout the Fix Auto UK network have developed over recent times and while our new centre will still be a traditional bodyshop, using a moveable booth will enable us to operate from a 5,000 sq ft unit and yet still produce an output of repairs normally associated with a unit of 10,000sq ft or more.’
Fix Auto UK’s managing director Ian Pugh, said, ‘What Lee and his team at Fix Auto Oswestry Welsh Borders are proposing is another significant and exciting investment for the network. It is particularly pleasing to see organic growth coming from within the network, which complements our traditional network development activity, and I will be delighted to see the new site come on stream in the spring.’
