Symach has promoted Stephen Healer to UK Sales Manager as part of a larger plan to open a Symach UK subsidiary within next year. The company hopes that the new UK office will “reinforce commercial structure in the UK” to give effective on-site support to customers and provide timely responses to their needs.
“With Stephen’s extensive experience in the coatings industry, he will be instrumental in helping Symach showcase its complete body shop solution,” said Osvaldo Bergaglio, Symach CEO. “He will work closely with body shops across the UK to demonstrate how they can shift from using the conventional repair process to Symach’s unique FixLine process, which drastically reduces the cost of repairs.”
Healer joined the industry in a temporary role as a van sales representative for a regional coatings distributor over 25 years ago. He worked at Nitrotherm Spray as National Sales Manager in the UK prior to joining Symach.
“I quickly developed a passion for the refinish industry and greatly value the relationships I have formed over the years,” said Healer. “I’m excited to join Symach’s international team and help collision repair facilities across the UK learn more about Symach’s unique approach repairing vehicles based on the FixLine process.
“Over the last decade, the accident repair industry in the UK has declined by around 20 per cent to just over 3000 body shops, leading to a shortage in repair capacity. We also see a shortage in skilled staff, specifically painters, contributing to increased staffing costs.”
This will lead to an increase in overall repair costs, according to Healer.
“As repair volumes decrease and costs increase, this is applying pressure on body shops to reduce their costs and increase productivity,” he said. “I look forward to building new relationships with these groups and demonstrating how Symach equipment and technology is perfectly aligned to help them be successful now and, in the future.”