Meet the Team behind Smart Repairs

Darryl Short has worked in the retail motor trade for over 30 years and joined our business in 2018, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge of both retail and trade sectors. Darryl has played a leading role in the growth of the business since joining Smart Repairs over 4 years ago.

Having held Head of Business and General Sales Manager roles with the Mercedes-Benz brand for many years, Darryl has a great understanding of what is important to meet both dealership and customer needs. This knowledge has helped our technicians cement great partnerships with their dealerships and the customers they interact with.

Darryl can help identify your company’s specific needs and have a tailor-made service-level agreement prepared for you with the aim of building lasting partnerships.

Dan Besau initially started in the SMART repair industry in January 1996 working for Dentmaster. Having worked for them for a period of 4 years then following the takeover from DentWizard USA, Dan decided to go it alone in 2000.

After 3 successful years, DHMB Ltd was formed. From a sole trader in 2000, growing the company to 100 employees and an £8M turnover, it was clear there was an ever-growing demand for services and external expertise needed to be brought in.

Smart Repairs is the largest independent SMART repairer in the country. Smart Repairs is unique in that all our technicians are employed, ensuring consistent quality and a steady stream of new technicians can be trained internally.

Katrina Oxtoby has worked in the Oil, Gas, Crane and Auto sectors and moved to Manheim (Cox Group) in the Midlands from Cambridge in 2006.

Working with Phil Newstead, Katrina was instrumental in growing the DWV business after his MBO in 2011 from the Cox Group.

The business was then sold to Amtrust in 2017 where Katrina continued working with them until May 2020. Katrina moved from the Midlands to Leeds to work alongside Phil Newstead, Dan Besau and the team in their Smart Repairs business.

Katrina originally from Yorkshire has returned to her roots.

Ian Hobson started in the motor trade straight from school, working at a Land Rover dealership, completing his apprenticeship and becoming a fully qualified Land Rover technician for 10 years, before moving to work on Bentley Motor cars for 4 years.

After a 12-month stint back with a local Land Rover garage, Ian joined Dan as the first employee of Smart Repairs and trained as a dent repair technician. From there, Dan grew the team and Ian assisted where needed, looking after the “dent team”, allowing Dan the capacity to grow the company further; in the way of mobile wheel repair and paint repairs and further still into the static workshop facility we have today.

During this time Ian came away from the tools to help manage the whole mobile and workshop teams to ensure the customers always received the best service possible – a standard Dan has always set and has always maintained as Smart Repairs grew, getting us to where we are today.

Pete joined smartrepairs.co.uk in December 2021 as Technician in the London area.

As the work increased rapidly Pete was tasked with a recruitment drive in the South and has been promoted to Southern Area Manager looking after our team of experienced technicians in that area. Pete has IMI ATA accreditations and over 25 years of experience in the industry.

Suzanne joined us early in 2021 and is an essential part of our leadership team. As Group Service Manager, she ensures quality of repair, and the service provided by our technicians is industry-leading.

Suzanne has a wealth of after-sales experience, having previously run large and busy service departments for leading manufacturers – Mercedes-Benz and Honda to name but two. She understands that at the end of every repair is a customer whose complete satisfaction is everyone’s aim.

Steve joined us over 18 months ago and has quite literally travelled the length and breadth of the country to ensure our customers receive the best possible service.

Steve has over 20 years’ experience in the Automotive retailing sector giving him a unique insight into how our services can best work for your business. His belief is that a face-to-face visit gives us and him the best possible opportunity to tailor and monitor our Smart Repair Provision – he looks forward to meeting you soon.

Gemma has recently joined our team, having spent the past 10 years working for the BMW Group. Starting her career as a used car sales executive at MINI, she progressed to Used Car Manager and her most recent role as General manager for the past 3 years.

Having spent many years running a used car operation, Gemma has developed a keen eye for detail and a strong understanding of retail cosmetic repairs. This, combined with her ability to build and nurture customer relationships will allow us to continue to grow our business whilst maintaining the highest levels of service possible for all our customers.

Phil has extensive experience in the SMART repair industry having worked in the sector for over 20 years. As the CEO of Dent Wizard, Phil led an MBO and transformed the business over a period of 5 years.

The business was eventually sold to Amtrust in a circa £16M transaction. Phil became a shareholder and Director of SMART repairs.co.uk in 2019 and has overseen the rebranding and restructuring of this business, this has delivered significant growth in both turnover and more importantly profit. Phil takes an active role in the management of major customers and has a specific focus on developing smart repairs share of the SMART warranty market.