Tom Hudd (ex iRG / Thatcham) joins the NBRA

Tom Hudd has been appointed as National Manager at NBRA as part of the association’s continual drive to strengthen its operating team and membership offering. He will join on 17th February 2020 and will report directly to Chris Weeks, Director of the National Body Repairers Association

He brings with him a wealth of experience in the automotive repair sector, having spent the last 15 months at iRG as Head of Technical Services and prior to this spent two and a half years at Thatcham Research as Operations Manager - heading up the repair technology centre.

Tom has worked with cross functional teams, member insurers and external stakeholders. He has managed successful teams consisting of both research engineers and workshop-based technicians and played a key role in developing the processes for the production of advanced vehicle repair methodologies. Tom’s key focus will be to further develop the NBRA’s membership offering focussing primarily on simple services to improve repairer revenue and reduce cost and to make these services available digitally to members.

Chris Weeks, NBRA Director said: “I previously worked with Tom for over 20 years at Direct Line Group where he helped improve process for UK Assistance - a chain of 18 accident repair centres owned by DLG. Tom has developed an impressive reputation across the automotive manufacturing and repair sectors, is recognised for his operational management excellence and we are delighted he has joined our team”.

Tom added: “Having spent valuable time at iRG, I’m acutely aware of the challenges that repairers are now faced with and having worked at the coal face, I have experienced the struggles that face the industry from a repairers point of view. Helping with contract negotiation, choosing the correct equipment, gaining a return on your investment, understanding how to harness technology has been my job for the last decade - being able to do that on a larger scale for NBRA members and helping the industry is a challenge I am up for.”