AW Group cuts ribbon on ninth site
AW Repair Group has opened its ninth site at Sherburn-In-Elmet, creating 14 new jobs and taking the group’s annualised turnover to £19.3m.
The 9,000 sqft site epitomises the group’s labour-saving and technology advances, boasting in-house ADAS and electric vehicle capability. It also follows the group’s preferred design of skate and rail transfer system with Junair 10m drive through booth with QADs and LED lighting.
AW Repair Group’s founder and CEO Andrew Walsh said: “This has proven to free up space and repair more vehicles with less people. We’ve made some real tangible changes in our processes over the past two years and the Sherburn site includes all of these.
“Our sites work as an integrated team with a five day key to key target. We have always had a tight-knit team. However, there is a new feel of change and togetherness in AW which is essential as we move into a new generation of crash repair technology.”
“This is also the first site to include from the outset an electric vehicle safety kit and tool board. The mobile kit includes safety hook, specific tooling and EV signage and all the staff here will be EV trained. As with our other sites all technicians also have a tablet for accessing methods and job cards, in-progress photographs and quick additional damage evidence and notification to our VDA team.”
The site will be led by general manager, Steve Oxley who has 20 years’ experience in the industry and has been working with AW for the past six months. Steve and group operations manager, James Dunn have hand-picked the team at Sherburn who have been integrated into AW’s procedures and processes over the past month prior to opening.
Committing to the company’s environmental sustainability policy the Sherburn site also boasts motion sensor LED lighting through the workshop and open plan corporate blue, orange and glass reception and offices.
The Sherburn site, which is 25 miles from AW’s next nearest site at Denaby Main, near Doncaster, has created 14 jobs and new apprenticeship opportunities will be available shortly as the Training and Apprenticeship Academy opens for new intakes in the first quarter of 2020.
Walsh added: “I’d like to thank our usual team of contractors who have done a wonderful job bringing this project to fruition. The building is in a great location with a secure compound but it really was in a poor condition. To think it has been turned into this high tech bodyshop with the usual AW quality, standards and corporate identity in nine weeks is just remarkable.”
