Steve Kenny Accident Repair Centre in Didcot has gone into voluntary liquidation, less than a year after the business moved to a purpose built state-of-the-art bodyshop.

A creditors meeting was due to be held last Friday following the appointment of receivers Peter Edwards and Co of Whitney. The bodyshop’s phone has been disconnected.

Kenny, who had worked as a bodyshop designer for a leading car paints manufacturer before opening his first bodyshop in Didcot in 1998, realised his dream last December of opening an eco-friendly high-tech body repair centre.

The two-year project resulted in the new Steve Kenny Accident Repair Centre boasting a bespoke side-loading spraybooth with a separate oven, two 11kW compressors, high intensity daylight lighting and a purpose-built estimating bay, all encompassed in an energy-efficient chrome and glass building.

Industry analyst Robert Hadfield, of AutoBody Projects, says: “It would appear he set out to change the face of the body repair industry, but work providers failed to buy into his dream. I hope this does not signal a return to the dark days of backstreet bodyshops.”