I live in Billericay and used Kraftwork in Chelmsford for a complete bonnet respray at the back end of last year.

Having been wholly unimpressed with the bodyshop that my usual Audi dealer subcontracts to, I was recommended to Kraftwork. They work very closely with New Again, which is a smart repair company also based in Chelmsford, but they pick up the jobs that need more than a smart repair.

I have sung the praises of both companies a couple of times on this forum and they are brilliant. Having had some bad experiences with bodyshops over the years it is refreshing to deal with companies that really take a pride in their work. The service is personal, you deal with the owners and the people who are actually doing the job. They are incredibly meticulous and I was absolutely over the moon with the repair that Kraftwork did to my bonnet.

Kraftwork do a lot of classic car restoration as well and are real enthusiasts. They feature in magazines regularly. I would suggest you arrange to have a chat with the owner, Davide (with an e!) and look at some of his work.

What really impressed me as well, is that when I collected the car, he walked me all around it in electric light, then took it in to the daylight, then lifted the bonnet to prove that you couldn't see the joins! The paint match and finish were absolutely perfect (and I'm a perfectionist).

I recommended Kraftwork to a friend a few weeks ago who also has an A5, and had damaged his front wing. Again, he had nothing but praise for the company.

They are half the price of the Audi bodyshop - I was charged about £450 whereas Audi wanted almost £1000 to re-spray the bonnet, but more important was the quality of the job.

They're not Audi specialists as such but I really don't think you will have any problems with them putting the car back together again.

They are out in the sticks a bit, the building is in the middle of the field approached up a long concrete drive, but I guess that's how they keep costs under control.

I would recommend them 101%."

BMW M Sport Coupe 2009:

"I'd like to thank Kraftwork again for the exemplary work carried out and the exceptional level of service throughout. Just as promised, the car looks as though it is straight out of the BMW factory and the repair and repaint is flawless. Having been advised by a BMW bodyshop that anything other than replacing the entire bumper would be sub-standard, I was naturally nervous as to whether it would be possible to repair the existing bumper but I needn't have been, the results achieved by Kraftwork are perfect. I think a lot of people would tend to be persuaded by their main dealer's bodyshop that the 'top job' is the only repair option available for a flawless result, especially with a premium brand car or one with a factory-fitted body kit like the M Sport kit on my 3-series coupe, but Kraftwork offered a different option that achieved a flawless result for a fraction of the cost (£274.95 (inc VAT) as compared to the BMW estimate of £1,454.20 (inc VAT)). When I was considering my options after receiving the estimate from BMW I shopped around and received a variety of alternative estimates including some very low ones from bodyshops who suggested a SMART repair. However, Kraftwork were the only bodyshop who committed to achieving a perfect result (others said that they could not guarantee that it would be as it was before the damage but that it would be close - close was not good enough for me). Davide at Kraftwork is highly knowledgeable and was able to assess my needs from photographs (I found it particularly reassuring that he asked for additional pictures to his specifications so that he could properly assess what level of repair to recommend). I dropped off the car at Kraftwork on a Wednesday morning and it was ready for pick-up on Thursday afternoon with all the work completed and cleaned and polished for good measure; the main dealer had informed me that it could take 'up to 7 days' to complete the work. Kraftwork comes across immediately as a top-notch specialist operation and the personal attention I received made me completely confident in trusting my car to them which was particularly important to me as someone who has never had any work done on a car outside the main dealer network before. Take it from me, speak to Kraftwork before you go ahead with that high-price main dealer estimate, you won't regret it! Definitely worth the trip from central London to Chelmsford.

Hopefully there will be some useful soundbites in there for you. If there's any other aspect that you would like me to cover to fit in with your article, I would be happy to provide more details.

Take care and I wish you every success with your business. I do hope that I won't pick up any more damage that will need your services, but if I do I will definitely be in touch before I even speak to BMW!"

"These guys really know what they are doing, I have just had my Mercedes returned to me and it looks like its just come off the production line. I couldnt be happier with the work that has been carried out, cheers lads, you have turned a tired 11 year old Merc into something very special."

"Thanks Davide for doing a great job on fixing the front number plate on my Ferrari 328 GTS. Also at a very reasonable price. Also you went beyond the call of duty by tidying up the wires behind the stereo. Any future issues with stone chips etc wil also be handled by Kraftwork"

"Davide carried out a first quality job on my car as if it were its own vehicle, he did not give up until I was 100% satisfied. Excellent job and person, Many thanks, Davide."

"A thoroughly professional service from start to finish. My vehicle, a Dodge Ram SRT-10 went in for a bonnet respray and came out looking as good as when it left the show room! Many thanks for all of your help!"