BODYSHOPS will merge and co-operate to a much higher degree than in the past during the next two-three years - mirroring the trend for consolidation which has changed the face of the insurance industry in recent times, it was claimed this week.

Increasingly, bodyshops will form into either owned networks or co-operatives of members as new, larger insurers look to streamline their supply chains and promote common standards of service and repair quality, according to David Wallace, managing director of Acoat Bodyshop Services. 'The proposed Norwich Union-CGU merger is just the latest instalment in the trend for insurer consolidation and there will be more. It makes little sense for these large insurers to administer traditional insurer repairer networks when bodyshop networks will offer an off-the-shelf alternative.'