After managing a successful panel shop in Ponsonby, Mark Higgins and his business partner Adam opened By Accident on the North Shore in Birkenhead in November 2004. Two years later Mark bought out his partner and rebranded the business By Accident.

The panel shop has been part of the Birkenhead landscape for the past 30 years and may be remembered by some older Birkenhead residents as Bryce Sommerville Panelbeaters.