Growth and opportunity highlight Assured annual general meeting

Assured Automotive held its annual general meeting last night in Toronto, bringing together its partners from the dealership and insurance worlds to discuss the company’s progress and its future strategy.

The body shop consortium – the result of a merger between Imperial and Oaktown Collision Centres – has over 30 collision repairs facilities throughout southern Ontario. The group has been one of the better industry news stories of the past few years as profits have more than doubled for the group since 2005.

Sam Malatesta, board director, was the first to address the crowd. He talked about how the next ten years of the company would focus on the next phase of its business goals.

“We need to innovate together with our clients and focus on intellectual capital,” he said.
“And everything starts with the consumer.”

Malatesta focused on remaining true to core business values and continuing with the company’s element of social responsibility and improving cost structures.

Assured Automotive president Tony Canade said they were especially pleased at the increase in same store sales experienced over the last five years – up 60 per cent.

“It is easy to grow by acquisition,” he said. “But the ability to row through same store sales is very special to us.”

When talking about the future of the group, Canade said they did not want growth for the sake of growth. He said it is far more important to focus on maintaining quality leadership and high customer service standards.