A rapidly-growing car body repair company is a business that's going places.

Wrexham-based Body Perfect has created 12 new jobs after virtually doubling the size of the operation.

It is also looking to take on another seven apprentices of its own after investing £500,000 in new 30,000 sq ft premises on Rhosddu Industrial Estate, just across the road from its old base.

Among the big ticket items of expenditure have been £180,000 on new spray booths, £35,000 on a state of the art airline system and 15 new courtesy vehicles for customers.

In the driving seat is company founder Simon Edwards, 43, who served his time at the former Ford dealership, Kirby's, in Wrexham, which is also his home town.

According to Simon, much of the credit for having the confidence to invest and expand was down to the expert advice from chartered accountants Coxeys, who have offices in Wrexham and Saltney.

After striking out on his own in 1996, Simon initially set up a car valeting company and later established a mobile cosmetics repair business called Flying Colours which is still going strong.

The fledgling operation moved into premises on Wrexham Industrial Estate with a car wash and a 1,500 sq ft body shop.

As the operation continued to grow, it moved to bigger premises on Rhosddu Industrial Estate where its success continued to accelerate with manufacturer approvals from the likes of Peugeot, Citroen, Toyota, Kia and Hyundai.

Key figures in the company include Simon's wife, Nicola, who is in charge of the accounts department, and general manager Steve Gittins, his former boss at Kirby's.

Simon said: "The new premises are nearly double the size of our old base and we have invested more than £500,000 on the site to get it how we need it.

"It's a far cry from how it all started with just me. Now we have 40 people on the payroll and seven new apprentices in the offing.

"I'm a firm believer in growing your own in terms of staff because then they buy into the quality-driven ethos of the company.

"Currently, we’re dealing with 60 to 70 customers every single week through the paints and garage. We’ve also got a servicing centre in Glyn Ceiriog.

“We’re not planning to stop here because we want to keep on growing with Body Perfect sites elsewhere.”

Steve Gittins revealed he spotted Simon's potential immediately after he started working in the paint shop at Kirby's.

He said: "Simon was always one that had a spark and he always wanted to improve and be the best at what he did. If I needed anything communicating to the workshop I went to Simon.

"So his success with Body Perfect comes as absolutely no surprise."

Accountant Anthony Lewis, a director of Coxeys, was delighted with Body Perfect's growing success. He said: "With Simon as the driving force, Body Perfect is certainly heading in the right direction and we are very pleased to have to opportunity to play our part.”