Vizion Network saves jobs and plans expansion after office acquisition

Debbie Fourie, Vizion Network’s Claims Department Manager, and Neil Orton, the company’s Commercial Director, outside the new office in Wellingborough.

A BUSINESS which has grown organically in Hull to become one of the UK’s biggest motor repair management companies has now expanded its workforce and its services across the country after taking over part of a national brand.

Vizion Network has safeguarded more than 40 jobs after completing the acquisition of the former NFU Mutual claims centre in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. Vizion, which already employs around 100 people at its headquarters at The Deep Business Centre, also expects to create more than 100 new jobs at the new office during this year.

Freya Cross, Business and Corporate Manager at The Deep, said: “Vizion Network’s expansion is great news for the people in Wellingborough who have kept their jobs as a result of the acquisition and for the people in Hull who have helped to build the business.

“Our mission at The Deep Business Centre is to help our tenants become established and then to grow, and Vizion is a spectacular example of what can be achieved. They started with one person in an office of 250 square feet here and they now have two offices, 100 people and 5,000 square feet. The latest move underlines their status as a major player in the motor repair industry.”

NFU Mutual announced in October 2016 that it would close two of its regional service centres – Cardiff and Wellingborough – as it consolidated its operation.

Vizion Network saw the opportunity to continue an expansion programme which has seen the company grow from just one member of staff in 2009 to become the biggest tenant at The Deep.

Chris McKie, the company’s Managing Director, said the Wellingborough office of 15,000 square feet over three floors will help Vizion Network expand in the midlands and the south with investment in new services and technology.

He said: “Hull will be our primary call centre but the Wellingborough office will support our growth forecast of 18 per cent this year and will also help us introduce additional services including providing replacement vehicles and providing additional services for customers with claims arising from the total loss of their vehicle.

“We already provide a 24/7 service for recovery of stranded vehicles and we plan to do the same with other services. Wellingborough will also be the hub for web-based and app-driven features such as registering claims and transmitting images, helping us to provide drivers with a seamless and less frictional service.”

“At the moment we have 42 people in Wellingborough and we expect our team there to increase to about 150 by the end of this year. There is gradual recruitment now and there are conversations going on about how quickly that will progress.”

The total annual number of claims received by Vizion Network has climbed from 78,210 in 2014 to 221,000 in 2016 as the company has struck partnerships with household-name insurers including Aviva, Allianz, AXA, LV, NFU Mutual and Markerstudy, with a client base of manufacturers which includes BMW, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Renault, Subaru, Volvo and VW Group. The company expects to process 265,000 repairs this year.