Kwik-Fit has begun a £1.5m pilot scheme of refurbishment aimed at modernising its centres and making them more customer friendly.

Twenty sites have been selected between Edinburgh and Bournemouth for the test, which is due to end by mid-2005.

At that point Kwik-Fit’s parent group CVC Capital Partners will roll out the programme across the 700-strong UK network over the next two years. Each refurbishment will cost about £75,000.

“Visits to centres are mostly unplanned and therefore we want to make motorists’ stay as comfortable as possible,” says Mike Wise, Kwik-Fit Fleet sales director. The company has already spent £3m updating workshop equipment.