CRASH Services, the Accident Management Company based in Newry, has announced it will be making a £2 million investment, which will create another 25 new jobs in the city.

The family owned company which has been in operation since 1996, is investing £2 million into both its infrastructure and profile.

CRASH is moving into newly completed offices in Canal House, an impressive addition to the expanding Newry skyline.

This will accommodate the recent period of unprecedented growth that has seen claims handled treble since 2004 and the workforce more than double in the last 18 months to 36.

This relocation will facilitate the firm's plans to create 25 new jobs to handle the expected increase in business, which will be supported by a profile raising advertising campaign starting in early October 2007.

Michael McKeown, Managing Director at CRASH said: "CRASH has grown through strong word of mouth referrals, as we offer a unique and innovative service to non-fault motorists involved in road accidents across Northern Ireland. We are now in a position to invest funds that will take the business to the next level. This includes both facilities and a pioneering advertising campaign that will break later this year."

The advertising campaign is designed to encourage motorists to make CRASH their first call after an accident.

The Newry based company believes that motorists should not be inconvenienced or out of pocket if the accident is not their fault.

The campaign, a first for the Accident Management sector in the UK, re-iterates that CRASH are not an insurance company - it states that their job is to focus solely on getting motorist's their full legal entitlement.

The investment across both infrastructure and profile represents a major step forward for the Accident Management sector.

Explaining the factors behind the new direction for the business, Tony McKeown, Sales & Marketing Director, commented: "The Accident Management sector has enjoyed fantastic growth since it emerged in the mid nineties and is now worth an estimated £500 million in the UK. In Northern Ireland, despite CRASH now handling 15% of the annual 25,000 non-fault accidents here, awareness and understanding of the sector remains low. Our full potential is yet to be realised, hence the profile building campaign. With such a unique and valuable service to offer motorists, we expect to grow our share of non fault accidents to 10,000 cases by 2010."

CRASH has been working with Belfast based advertising agency, Navigator Blue, since January and the television commercials are in the final stages of production.

(SB/SP)