Just Car Clinic (JCC) has acquired the bodyshop business from Trinity Motors of Hinckley for £113,000.

Last year’s turnover for the business was estimated at £2.5m from unaudited management accounts and Barry Whittles, chief executive of JCC, said that it has been trading at break even.

“Our first aim is to downsize the building from 50,000 sq ft to 28,000 sq ft. The unit has been bought by a property developer, who will rent out the rest of it,” said Whittles. “We will then incorporate the standard JCC systems and procedures and we will be realigning the work provision opportunities with the majority of our corporate clients.”

JCC is looking to expand further in areas such as Northampton, Norwich, Ipswich and Cambridge. The group is currently in talks with three or four parties.

“JCC’s strategy is all about location. Every site has to be within a 60-mile radius of the nearest centre, which means we expand out in a circular motion. We currently have 19 sites and our aim is to increase this to 25 within the next 14 months. The expansion should bring our turnover to £40-45m,” said Whittles.

JCC is also looking to redevelop more greenfield sites after opening an outlet in Scarborough last December, which turned in a profit for the first time in May.

Whittles is a champion of the BSI/Thatcham Kitemark scheme, which aims to improve standards in the crash repair sector. He has made the scheme mandatory in all of JCC’s 19 centres.