Leading online vehicle remarketing business Copart UK is opening a Customer Excellence Centre in Bedford, to support their ongoing growth and development plans.

Copart has seen significant growth across the UK and currently has over 1,200 employees based across 18 locations, including a head count of over 250 at their Head Office in Wootton. Following the rapid expansion of Copart’s customer service functions, including Claims Settlement and Engineering Services, the company has been seeking alternative locations to support growth and the changing needs of their customers.

Copart has now secured 10,000 square feet of office accommodation across three floors at Franklin Court, based in Priory Business Park, Bedford.

Jane Pocock, Managing Director of Copart UK & Ireland, said:

“We are planning for our Customer Excellence Centre to house centralised critical value-added services that help us drive more returns from customers’ vehicles. These include Vehicle Engineering, Private Plate and Vehicle Finance Management, the coordination of keys and documents, and Claims Negotiations and Settlement services.

“This is a vital part of our expansion, allowing us to provide our partners with world class end-to-end outsourced services. It also creates the potential for many new job opportunities in the Bedford area.”

Around 100 existing employees will move across to the Customer Excellence Centre and the additional capacity will accommodate a further 35 new roles, which Copart anticipates recruiting for over the next 12-18 months.

The Customer Excellence Centre will also support Copart’s ongoing commitment to digital transformation, providing a central hub for the continued development and enhancement of technology and purpose-built systems to provide a seamless claims journey for their insurance partners.

This move to Franklin Court coincides with the launch of Copart’s new Claims Management System, ClaimHub.

SYNETIQ, the UK’s leading salvage and vehicle recycling company, has been externally verified with the International Standard ISO 45001.

The new accreditation is a welcome reminder that health, safety, and welfare remain at the heart of SYNETIQs operations. Colleagues continue to work together to ensure the business remains proactive in its approach to health and safety, striving to continuously improve together.

ISO 45001 has helped SYNETIQ focus on the minimisation and, where possible, elimination of risk. The business already operates an integrated management system which includes ISO 9001, 14001 and 27001; this has proved to be an effective way of achieving standardisation across sites.

SYNETIQ strives for excellence both for its colleagues and customers, and this accreditation further demonstrates the robust health and safety processes which are in place.

Tom Rumboll – SYNETIQ Chairman added:

“I am proud and delighted that SYNETIQ has been awarded the ISO45001 accreditation. It is a testament to the hard work of all colleagues; especially the HSEQ Team and a real signal of our commitment to putting the Health and Safety of our colleagues at the forefront of our business. It reflects and recognises our investment and significant progress in this area since SYNETIQ was created.  The focus now must be on ensuring we maintain the level of quality, focus, discipline and improvement to retain this year after year.”

Mark Harrison – Head of Health, Safety, Environment and Quality said:

“2020 continues to be a challenging year for all due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we all continue to pull together to work through the challenges we face. Achieving ISO45001 accreditation despite these additional challenges gives us a great sense of pride and further demonstrates our commitment to putting health and safety first in all that we do as an organization.”

Press Release – 20-10-20

Copart UK announces further expansion of their dedicated ‘First Response’ Contact Centre in the North East

Global leader in online vehicle remarketing, Copart UK, has announced plans to centralise a number of core activities that are the backbone to the first response and policy holder management services they provide to the Insurance sector.

Following an increase in demand, the expanded contact centre will be dedicated to the delivery of two essential services. Firstly, Copart's Recovery and Storage Cost Management Services - vital to Insurers to ensure close cost management across areas such as Police statutory charges, recovery agent charges and Bodyshop storage charges.

The expanded team will also be responsible for co-ordinated collections and immediate payment on behalf of Insurers to minimise disruption and optimise cash flow.

In addition, new roles will be created to focus on building and maintaining the trusted and long-standing relationships with Bodyshop and recovery operators, providing specialist training for Copart employees to manage costs on behalf of Insurers.

The second area of expansion is focused around the provision of their policy holder vehicle pick up services know as Copart Owner Connect. This enables policy holders to have their vehicle quickly and safely collected directly from their home at a time that suits them - all via a convenient mobile app. Copart’s Director of Operation Centres, Transport & Engineering, Phil Briggs, said they were continuing to make significant investment into both services due to an increase in demand from the insurance sector, driven by the need of Insurers to minimise cost and maximise the service experience for their policy holders. “As we continue to invest in technology, people, and process, we are able to support Insurers at an even greater depth in fully understanding the costs associated with the recovery and storage of any vehicle in a claims process. This expansion, which includes additional job opportunities, reflects Copart's investment in customer service, and in the local area. “Coupled with the fact we are able to deploy Copart's liveried vehicles and uniformed Drivers to collect vehicles from policy holders' homes, we are providing the reassurance that they are in safe hands during what can often be a distressing moment following an accident.”

Briggs goes on to emphasise the importance of data security to Insurers as another strong motivating factor when it came to the decision to centralise these services: “Centralising these functions into a single, secure site has the additional benefit of ensuring we can handle sensitive, personal data in a manner that fully complies with all relevant regulations”.

SYNETIQ, the UK’s largest salvage and vehicle recycling company, has welcomed three new additions to its IT team – a mark of its commitment to investment and innovation.

(left to right: Sean Maller, Robert Ralston & Navya Areti)

Two new Senior Developers have joined to strengthen the team’s capacity, as the business prepares for the next chapter of its capabilities.

Sean Maller is the latest addition to the .Net Team, and will focus on software improvement, ensuring SYNETIQ remains a market leader in innovation and process.

Robert Ralston is the latest addition to the AWS development team and brings his experience gained in the Fleet Management industry, making him ideally placed for the role. SYNETIQ is a leading provider of Green Parts and Mechanical Solutions to fleets across the UK; Robert’s knowledge of CRM system development will enhance client and customer experience.

Navya Areti joins as Amazon Web Services (AWS) DevOps Engineer, and will be working closely with SYNETIQ’s IT development teams. Navya’s background is in the creation of cloud infrastructure – she will help the team move projects into the cloud, reduce cost, improve reliability, and continue to plan for the future.

Dave Harcourt, IT Director at SYNETIQ, said: “Investment in our team will help us offer the best possible experience to our clients and customers. I’m excited for what’s in store over the coming months and confident we’re set up to drive our industry forward through investment and innovation.”