The_Assessor_Summer 2026 Web - Flipbook - Page 20
JOURNAL
TECHNICAL
Dean Lander, Head of
Repair Sector Services at
Thatcham Research.
Training should be a priority for industry stakeholders to sustain employee numbers both now and in the future.
SKILLS: A GOLDEN
OPPORTUNITY
Dean Lander, Head of Repair Sector Services, outlines the positive steps being taken
by the Automotive Academy at Thatcham Research and why the drive to train a new
generation of repair talent is no accident.
shortage of skilled
repair technicians may
have dropped to third
in the list of challenges
set out in the 2025
ABP State of the Industry Report, but
now isn’t the time to let our guard
down. The workforce needs sustainable
reinforcement both for today and the
future, so training must be put front
and centre by stakeholders across the
sector.
A
Modern vehicle repair capability is now
listed behind both low labour rates
and falling repair volumes as the main
issues affecting the industry.
In 2025, the skills factor topped the list
and could still be deemed a full-blown
crisis. The aforementioned dip in
repair work means we can tentatively
downgrade ‘crisis’ to ‘de昀椀cit’.
That said, a total of 56% of bodyshop
leaders polled by ABP deem skills
a major or signi昀椀cant threat. Any
relief may prove 昀氀eeting and masks
structural de昀椀ciencies in the system.
underscored in a separate survey we
conducted in conjunction with the
Centre for Economics and Business
Research1.
The same percentage of repair 昀椀rm
leaders we polled (56%) said vehicle
repair has become more dif昀椀cult in
the past 12 months – making it their
primary challenge in returning cars to
the road in pre-accident condition. This
is driven, they claim, by complexity of
materials, High Voltage and Advanced
Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)
appearing on new vehicles.
Meanwhile, the average age of a repair
technician in the UK remains worryingly
close to retirement. It stood at around
55 years old at the last calculation, with
repair technicians found to have the
oldest age pro昀椀le2.
We have dif昀椀culty attracting young
talent to an industry which still to
an extent has an image problem,
alongside the promise of better pay
and conditions in other industries.
wider sector strategy to bring down the
average age by 昀椀nding and training
the technicians of the future.
New skills, new talent
We have a renewed focus for our
Automotive Academy which is
designed to de昀椀ne and deliver against
the skills de昀椀cit, for the bene昀椀t of the
insurance and repair industries.
One key element of the refreshed
strategy is to draw on our wider,
extensive research programme in
timely fashion. Technology continues
to change the face of the automotive
industry faster than ever. Developments
in electric vehicle innovation,
automation and connectivity – not to
mention other high-pro昀椀le advances
like megacasting – require a rapid
upgrade in skills to keep pace.
The faster the Academy programme
can cover these aspects, seeking
to inform, educate and provide
intelligence to the market, the less
exposed bodyshops across the country
will be.
Fear around repair skills was
That’s why Thatcham Research is
redoubling our efforts to feed into a
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THE ASSESSORS JOURNAL | SUMMER 2026 | www.iaea-online.org/news/the-assessor
