Trade associations will have to restructure if they are to give their members real value, claims Mike Monaghan, chief executive of the MVRA.

He says the changes at his organisation during the past 12 months have prepared it to better represent its members.

“Our MBO last January was critical. If the MVRA hadn’t have changed it would have suffered a death of a thousand cuts,” says Monaghan.

He says the main priority is supporting members in their day-to-day business. The MVRA will also lobby on issues affecting repairers, but Monaghan says it will choose its fights carefully, and back its arguments with hard facts, rather than simply sound off on different issues.

Monaghan has recruited Adrian Bond as managing director. Together, they overhauled the service available to the 1,700 members, split almost equally between bodyshops and mechanical repairers.

This led to the launch of Options, a multi-tier membership scheme which allows repairers to choose their level of standard support, such as legal advice and a technical helpline.

They can then upgrade or buy-in added services, such as mystery shops, regional manager support or on-site health and safety reviews. It’s a move similar to the one taken recently by the RMI Federation.

Monaghan believes the MVRA cannot rely on subscription revenue alone to provide the service that members expect.