16 December 2020 – When Jaguar Land Rover and car dealership company Sytner Group opened a flagship Guy Salmon facility in Sunbury on Thames, Surrey in October 2020, they chose Spies Hecker – one of the premium refinish brands of Axalta, a leading global supplier of liquid and powder coatings – to supply paint products and services exclusively at the facility.

Tom Lodge, Division Bodyshop Manager at Sytner Group, says, “For such a prestigious site, we needed to work with a paint supplier that understood what we were creating, and whose products and services matched the high levels of quality and performance Jaguar Land Rover vehicle owners expect. Not only is Spies Hecker’s Hi-TEC system the best paint system available, but also the personal, tailored service we receive from Spies Hecker’s technical team is second to none.”

The new state-of-the-art facility is the first of its kind to be built in the UK and houses both a dealership and a workshop. The 17,000m2 facility is across five levels and is home to a new and used car showroom, a stylish customer café, a drive-in service reception area and a bodyshop boasting 27 technical bays, two spray booths, a diamond cut facility, so the face of diamond cut alloy wheels can be re-cut, and two MOT test lanes.

Julian Lambert, Technical Services Manager for Axalta in the UK & Ireland, says, “We have a long-established relationship with both Jaguar Land Rover and Sytner Group, with shared values on professionalism, delivering the very best products and knowing exactly what our respective customers need, so we were delighted to be involved in helping to set up the bodyshop at the new site.”

Spies Hecker worked closely with the Sytner Group to install its Hi-TEC Performance system, set up the dedicated mixing room and organise on-site training. The bodyshop uses a range of products from the Spies Hecker Hi-TEC Performance System, including Permahyd Hi-TEC 480 Basecoat, the latest Jaguar Land Rover aftermarket approved Speed-TEC clear coats, the ColorDialog Phoenix spectrophotometer and the brand’s most advanced digital colour management system, Phoenix.

Lodge continues, “Since we opened, we have only been working at 50% capacity largely due to the pandemic. We have taken on six painters, and as we have been unable to send them to the Axalta Refinish Academy in Welwyn Garden City for training, Spies Hecker has been very flexible and brought the training to the site. This has been a great help in getting us launch-ready.”

Lambert says, “Even with the challenges posed by working under the government’s social distancing guidelines, the installation went very smoothly and we are continuing to offer customised training and support whenever needed.”

To find out more about Spies Hecker products and services, contact your local distributor or visit www.spieshecker.co.uk.

About Spies Hecker

Spies Hecker, a global refinish coating brand from Axalta, develops optimum and practical paint system solutions that make bodyshop work easier and more efficient. Originally from Cologne, Germany, and with over 135 years of success behind it, Spies Hecker’s high-quality product systems, customised service and tailored training demonstrate its partnership with the refinish industry. The paint brand is one of the world’s leading vehicle refinish brands, and is available in over 75 countries worldwide.

Spies Hecker – simply closer!