European fleets, daily rental firms and leasing companies are at the forefront of ambitious growth plans announced by paintless dent removal specialist, Dent Wizard.

The company is targeting the fleet industry in an attempt to increase its customer base in every corner of Europe.

Over recent years Dent Wizard has built up relationships with dealerships in Europe, but now wants to widen its customer base.

Managing director Scott Blind said the fleet, leasing and daily rental industries will provide the company with its biggest growth opportunities.

'We want to work anywhere where there is a large concentration of cars,' he said, 'so targeting the fleet industry is an obvious one for us.'

Blind said the biggest challenge the company faces is convincing fleets that using its services will reap financial rewards when they sell the car at the end of its working life. He also said dent removal would help them avoid penalties when returning cars to the manufacturer or leasing company.

The company claims it offers a unique service in that it makes repairs without grinding, drilling, filling or repainting - a process it claims does not threaten the original integrity of the vehicle.

In fact, Dent Wizard currently works with manufacturers on their production lines repairing dented panels as they work their way through the production process.

Another area where Dent Wizard expects to reap dividends across Europe in the short-term is from hail damage.

It is currently targeting European insurance firms with the aim of securing the repair work to cars damaged by hail during a storm.

Blind estimates that the annual European bill for hail storm damage to cars could be as high as €2.2 billion.

The company has ruled out acquisitions as a means to expand claiming it would rather grow itself.

'We have the right training programme and we want to start up fresh,' Blind stressed, claiming that some firms offering similar services in Europe have approached Dent Wizard asking to be considered for a take-over. (September 2001)