The Green Shift: Achieving BS 10125 Compliance with a Lower Carbon Footprint

Driving change: Why sustainability and efficiency are now essential in UK car repair

The UK body repair and bodyshop industry is navigating a critical period. Driven by Net Zero targets, customer demands and insurer mandates, the sector is under pressure to improve quality standards whilst simultaneously demonstrating environmental responsibility.

This dual challenge requires innovative solutions that are both effective and efficient. This isn’t just about compliance; it’s about future-proofing your business and leading the way in a new, greener era of vehicle maintenance.

The necessity for responsibility

The body repair sector has a distinct environmental footprint that demands proactive management. Being a responsible business means actively addressing issues like:

Hazardous waste and pollution: Ensuring correct management of waste products, which often contain Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and other contaminants
High energy consumption: Addressing the significant energy use from processes like paint curing and workshop heating
Material resource use: Making responsible choices regarding parts, including the efficient utilisation of green parts (recycled components) to minimise waste
Operational carbon footprint: Reducing emissions generated by every part of the business – including travel

This is why structured frameworks like the ARIES Standard (Accident Repair Industry Environmental Standard) are gaining traction, providing clear pathways for businesses to measure and reduce emissions. Sustainability is now a benchmark for commercial excellence.

Man at a laptop with a pen and paper to signify online learning

The dual challenge: Quality and carbon

For UK bodyshops, achieving and maintaining the crucial BS 10125:2022 (Kitemark for Vehicle Damage Repair) is paramount.

However, the traditional route to achieving this essential quality standard often clashes with environmental and logistical goals:

Logistical strain: Sending staff to distant training centres causes disruption and adds cost
Environmental cost: Every mile travelled for training or assessment adds avoidable CO2 emissions to your company’s operational footprint

RWC’s solution: Comprehensive compliance, delivered sustainably

RWC’s Train to Gain programme is the innovative solution that allows your workshop to meet the stringent requirements of BS 10125 compliance without the typical environmental and logistical drawbacks.

Our programme is delivered 100% online, tackling the emissions challenge head-on while ensuring your technicians gain the necessary knowledge and certification.

The zero-travel benefit: Training, assessing and reducing emissions

Unlike providers who only offer assessment, Train to Gain is a complete compliance solution. We guide your team through the entire journey – from upgrading the technical skills needed to meet the requirements of BS 10125, to proving the competence required for certification.

Element	Train to Gain advantage	The sustainable advantage
Complete training	Full online learning modules: We provide the necessary education and upskilling required for compliance.	Zero travel for learning: Eliminates all CO2 emissions associated with staff traveling to an external centre for online training.
Comprehensive assessment	Remote, digital assessment: Technicians are assessed efficiently and accurately in their own workshop.	Zero travel for assessors: Eliminates the need for assessors to drive between bodyshops, helping reduce carbon footprint.
Efficiency and cost	Saves significant business time, accommodation and fuel expenses.	Practical carbon reduction: Your investment directly supports a lower-carbon operational model.

By choosing Train to Gain, you are not just securing your BS 10125 accreditation; you are investing in a complete, high-value training solution that is delivered via an eco-efficient operational model, aligning your quality standards with modern corporate responsibility.

Training for a responsible future

Investing in Train to Gain is a proactive step that aligns your quality management with the industry’s push for responsibility:

Efficiency for compliance: Streamline your route to BS 10125, allowing your team to focus on quality repair work
Practical carbon reduction: Immediately and measurably reduce operational emissions by cutting non-essential travel via online bodyshop training
Supporting ARIES: For workshops pursuing environmental frameworks like the ARIES Standard, proving the adoption of low-carbon, efficient business processes (like zero-travel training) is a significant point of evidence

Don’t let the vital need for compliance contradict your commitment to sustainability. Lead the change by adopting smart, zero-travel solutions.

Ready to secure your BS 10125 compliance efficiently while demonstrating your commitment to a lower-carbon future?

Find out more about Train to Gain and start your sustainable journey today

How does choosing Train to Gain help me reduce my bodyshop’s carbon footprint?

Our programme is delivered entirely online and remotely. This eliminates the need for your staff to travel to external training centres and removes the requirement for physical assessor visits to your bodyshop. This commitment to zero-travel training directly helps your business reduce operational CO2 emissions and supports your overall environmental responsibility goals. It delivers BS 10125 compliance in the most environmentally conscious way possible.

How does the Train to Gain programme help us achieve and maintain BS 10125 compliance?

The RWC Training Train to Gain programme is a complete compliance solution. It provides the necessary online training modules to ensure your technicians possess the technical skills required by the BS 10125:2022 standard. This is immediately followed by a robust, remote digital assessment that generates the verifiable competence records needed for your audit and ongoing certification maintenance.

Is the remote, digital assessment component accepted by BS 10125 certification bodies?

Yes. Our remote assessment process is designed to meet the rigour and evidence requirements of BS 10125. By using remote methods, we can efficiently verify competence in your actual workshop environment, providing reliable and auditable proof that your team is meeting the Kitemark for Vehicle Damage Repair standards without the need for costly assessor travel.

We are working towards the ARIES Standard. Does this programme contribute to that accreditation?

While the Train to Gain programme does not teach the ARIES Standard curriculum, its zero-travel delivery is a practical step toward achieving ARIES goals. A key requirement of ARIES is demonstrating a reduction in your operational carbon footprint, which our programme achieves by eliminating training and assessment-related travel emissions.

What is the difference between RWC Training and a provider who only offers assessment for BS 10125?

Providers who only offer assessment assume your team already has the necessary, current skills. Train to Gain offers both training and assessment. We first provide the high-quality online training to upgrade your technicians’ technical abilities to the required level, and then we digitally assess that newly acquired competence. This ensures skill gaps are closed before assessment occurs, providing a far more reliable path to compliance.