Leading accident repairer Howard Basford made a pre-tax loss of £900,236 in the year to December 2000 on turnover of £13.75m.

The company, in which Ford has a minor stake, blamed “significant investment” in new and existing sites for the loss, during difficult trading conditions for accident repairers.

Neil Kirk, Howard Basford managing director, said: “In June 2000 we acquired six loss making sites from the receiver of Contact Accident Repairs. Margins fell by 3% during the year due to industry pressures and the poor historic margins in the Contact business.”

Howard Basford, which has 11 bodyshops, is working on a number of initiatives, exploiting the skills and knowledge of partner Ford, as it evaluates the company's future structure.