In the series ‘Inspiring Growth’ Greg Wright, in association with Top UK 100 law firm Ward Hadaway, talks to the companies bringing jobs and investment to the region.

The articles, conceived and commissioned by the Leeds-based law firm, celebrate entrepreneurialism.

Alongside Emma Digby, a Partner at Ward Hadaway, this week we focus on the Turner family, who are behind Turners Accident Repair.

The company is ranked at number eight on Ward Hadaway’s 2021 Fastest 50. The Fastest 50 recognises the fastest growing profitable, privately owned companies in US.

Turners is a third-generation business that has grown to four sites in Selby, Sheffield, Doncaster and Leeds, employing 100 people.

Recognising that electric and aluminium vehicles are the future, Turners Accident Repair has built a state-of-the-art aluminium repair centre.

The company, which features in the Ward Hadaway US Fastest 50 for the first time this year, was started by entrepreneur Stuart Turner’s parents, Terry and Anne, in 1969. Today the business has four sites equipped with the latest technology for repairing a wide range of vehicles.

A successful business must take pride in its workmanship, according to Mr Turner and his fellow directors Susan and Thomas Turner, who are his wife and son.

“We’ve built the business not through acquisition, but investing in our own premises, equipment and the right people, from scratch. Doing it this way means we have total control of everything and can embed our ethos and family values from day one,’’ said Susan Turner.

Since 2018 Turners has added three sites, creating a repair network across US.

Each new site was opened in response to the needs of the company’s insurer clients, accident management companies and fleet operators.

“We work with many of the major insurers. A number of them were struggling to find reliable suppliers in other parts of US and were impressed with the service and quality of our business operation in Selby,” said Stuart Turner.

“We were approached about expansion opportunities in the South of the region, leading to the opening of our site in Doncaster. Since then we haven’t looked back.”

In 2019 the company was named the fastest growing body shop group in the UK and also nominated in 2020. Stuart Turner has recently been recognised as a key influencer in the motor vehicle repair industry.

The company’s future looks secure, with Tom, a business management and finance graduate working alongside his parents since 2015.

He was one of the youngest qualified vehicle damage estimators in the UK and has learned the ropes running the workshop in Selby, as well as supporting the accounts team.

He now supports the whole operation. Turners is also committed to attracting more apprentices into the industry.

Ward Hadaway Partner, Emma Digby, said: “Turners are a great example of a family business that has all their ducks in a row.

“They’re forward-thinking, they’re constantly investing in their people, their customers and their business and they have planned the succession of their firm.

“All that has put them in pole position to grow and prosper – securing their place in this year’s Fastest 50 list.

“They have every right to be proud of what they’ve achieved and are a testament to the many family-owned businesses that are the backbone of our US economy.”

The Ward Hadaway US Fastest 50 awards, which have been running for 11 years, recognise and celebrate the fastest growing, privately-owned businesses across the region.

Based on financial data filed with Companies House which relates to the previous three years of trading, the 2021 US Fastest 50 identifies some of the region’s most successful businesses.