D J Mackenzie’s and Suffolk New College
SuffolkNew College are delighted to have supplied Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) training and assessments for D J Mackenzie’s Ltd of Woodbridge, who were the first bodyshop in Suffolk to achieve PAS 125 status.
In order for body repair companies to obtain the Public Achievable Specification (PAS) 125 kite mark, it currently requires one in four members of staff have to have an accreditation. In addition to the ATA qualification the company is assessed on areas covering repair processes, methods, quality and standard of repair equipment, management procedures and quality conformance.
The ATA qualification, which is above NVQ level 3 standard, assesses the competence of employees in their specialist field – Mechanical, Electrical and Trim; Panel, Paint and vehicle damage assessment. The activities take from one to three days.
The PAS 125 highlights the need for skills training. Neale Empson, Manager of D J Mackenzie’s said “The PAS 125 is about raising standards in the industry and raising customer awareness. It gives peace of mind to Insurance Companies and customers that all repairs carried out on their vehicles will be in line with the guidelines set out by the manufacturers and The Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre (Thatcham), and all our technicians who are trained through Suffolk New College are using the relevant up to date procedures, materials and equipment.
Our achievement has also been recognised by all major insurance groups and other organisations including Suffolk Police HQ, Martlesham who now refer any vehicles to us that require structural repairs.
We are still monitored through the year, this being by two unannounced audit checks to make sure that the correct procedures and guidelines are followed for each job in hand.
D.J MACKENZIES LTD is an independently owned Woodbridge based accident repair centre situated just five minutes from the A12 (10 mins from Ipswich). We have been repairing accident-damaged vehicles to a very high standard for 26 years.
Our main source of work comes from our Insurance approvals, which are Esure, R.S.A, More Than, Motability, N.U (Aviva) and R.A.C. We have been approved repairers for these companies for many years and have built up a good working relationship with them. We see this as a great credit to all our staff that constantly repair vehicles to the very high standard that they require. We also undertake work for all other major Insurance companies and offer the services via Drive Assist and Helphire for all non-fault claims.
Along with insurance work we are also an approved bodyshop for Mazda and Kia through Donalds of Ipswich and Honda and Suzuki through John Banks, Ipswich.
All of our staff are fully trained and are able to undertake all modern day processes, which are required to keep repair costs down, such as plastic welding and smart repairs. Our company currently employs a total of 18 staff members with a good mix of experienced staff that works along side young enthusiastic staff members that are willing to learn the trade in the correct way. All our staff members are kept up to date with regular visits to Thatcham and Suffolk New College on training courses and are competent in all aspects of the body repair industry.
We use the audatex and escribe estimating systems along with digital imaging to provide a fast and efficient estimating process. Both our estimators have many years experience in the accident repair industry and our other office/reception based staff all have previous experience of working on the workshop floor which we feel is invaluable when dealing with customers with queries regarding their claim/vehicle.
If you would like to know any further details on the services we provide please do not hesitate to contact us on 01394 386625.