Accident solutions provider the Helphire Group increased turnover by 34 per cent in the third quarter of 2003, compared to the same period last year. Gross profit also increased by 44.6 per cent to £14.2m.

The company supplies services, such as hire cars, to accident victims in co-operation with insurers. Levels in its core credit hire business incr-eased by 51 per cent, while One Call, its accident notification service, also grew strongly and now deals with more than 1000 calls a week.

Helphire was founded in 1992 to provide a service to people involved in accidents that were not their fault. It now runs a fleet of over 4000 vehicles from motorbikes to prestige cars and commercial vans and has 14 branches across the UK.

In June it set up Total Accident Management, a company that manages fleet customers' claims. This has seen steady growth and increasing numbers of fleet clients are now utilising the service.

Chairman Michael Symons says: “Business volumes have continued to grow strongly, but we have succeeded in maintaining our high levels of performance and quality of service.”