ILC ARTICLE

ARC360 webinar polls reveal cautious optimism

8th September 2020

A series of ARC360 webinar polls have revealed cautious optimism across the industry, whilst highlighting October as the ‘key’ month up to end of 2020.

Having taken a break from weekly webinars during the month of August, ARC360 – in association with I Love Claims – returned on Wednesday 2 September and immediately set about exploring the current state of play from within the sector.

The first question posed for response focused on how the month of August had been from a business perspective. Forty-three per cent of respondents suggested it had been ‘as expected’ whilst 42% declared it ‘better than expected’. The remaining 15% suggested it had been ‘below expectations.

Next, attendees which included stakeholders from across the industry, were asked what their current work volumes were as compared with the period last year. Fifty per cent highlighted volumes were somewhere between 60-70%; 28% indicated between 70-80%; 19% between 80-90%; with the remaining three per cent declaring levels were 90% or more.

Only four per cent of attendees felt their business would re-emerge the same as it was pre-pandemic, whilst 13% felt only ‘minor tweaks’ were necessary. However, a total of 83% said their business would be different to how it once was with 58% stating there would be ‘some changes’ and 25% highlighting ‘significant changes’ to business as the result.

When questioned which of the four months remaining of 2020 is considered to key milestone for their business, 47% of respondents pointed at October as being the critical period. Twenty-four per cent highlighted September, 21% November, whilst eight per cent suggested December.

Joining the ARC360 webinar on 3 September were Mike Partridge, paint and body business manager, Volkswagen Group UK; Mike Brockman, CEO, ThingCo; and Andrew Walsh, founder & CEO, AW Repair Group, all of whom agreed that the collision repair sector had proved itself remarkably resilient.

Click here to watch the webinar in full.

ARC360, in association with I Love Claims, is supported by corporate partners BASF, BMS, Copart, EMACS, Entegral, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Nationwide Vehicle Recovery Assistance, S&G Response, Sherwin Williams and CAPS; partners The Green Parts Specialists, Indasa, and Innovation Group; and strategic partners AutoRaise; NBRA; RepairTalks; and TrendTracker.