Deejay Accident Repair Centres Ltd is to make 24 staff redundant in a move to reduce its cost base and “retain a competitive position in the market”.

Dave Shepherd, managing director, says: “It is very painful to make this type of cut back but it is a move required if we are to continue to provide insurance companies and their customers with a cost-effective service in an increasingly competitive market.

“The market is challenging. In addition to difficult economic conditions, claims frequency is reduced, vehicle values have fallen (resulting in a higher incidence of write offs) and simpler vehicle construction has lowered repair values. No one is immune from these trends.

“By taking action to reduce our cost base now we will safeguard the remaining 103 positions within the group and reorganise in readiness for an upturn which we firmly believe will come in the next 18 months to two years.”

No sites will be closed but Broxbourne in Hertfordshire is the centre, which will see the most redundancies, and some of the work it would normally handle will in future be transferred to three other north London centres in Finchley, Wood Green and Tottenham.