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Peter Black takes CAT through his 40 years in the automotive industry and 30 years in retail. He started in the motor trade 41 years ago for a company called Kettering Tyres, under the management of colourful character Peter Unwinn. Soon after starting out in the industry he ended up managing a branch of Kettering Tyres in South Wigston, Leicester. Little did Black know that he would be the owner of that shop 10 years on.

Ford Retail has announced a new brake pads for life scheme that follows similar intiatives from Halfords and KwikFit. Customers buying a used car from the 65-strong dealer chain will also benefit from free lifetime brake pads and fitting

BEN, the automotive industry charity is saddened to announce that David Prescott, MBE, FCIS, former Deputy Chief Executive has died following a short battle with cancer.

The National Association of Bodyshops (NAB) has concerns over Competition Commission’s (CC) research and investigation into the private motor insurance market. The CC commissioned MSX International to look at quality of repairs carried out on vehicles involved in accidents as part of its investigation.

So how does Autodata repay its loyal subscribers for their support in openly discrediting those garages that are foolish enough to contemplate using counterfeit data and discs? Simple – it hits them with a nifty little nine percent increase in their annual subscription price

Motor Codes has teamed up with online service and MOT comparison website TootCompare to further extend its reach in the consumer marketplace. Following collaborations with motoring.co.uk and Groupauto’s Approved Garage scheme, the tie-in with TootCompare feeds all 7500 Motor Code for Service and Repair subscribers to the site.

ATA Fast Fits accreditations are the latest training programmes to be redeveloped by the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI). The changes have been made to keep the accreditations in line with advancement in vehicle technology and insist that technicians are required to know how to use diagnostic equipment and carry out four-wheel alignment

Denso has joined TRW’s Diamonds customer loyalty programme to give garages more opportunities to earn points to spend on luxury gifts. The new partnership will be rolled out across the UK and certain other European markets including Germany, France and Poland

Unipart Automotive’s study into the comparative performance of its brake pads against five other manufacturers has caused quite a stir. TMD Friction has issued a rebuttal of the results and instructed lawyers, while others are considering their positions. We’ll put every development at the top of this timeline so you can see at a glance what the latest twist or turn might be. Things are likely to develop quickly and we will add them as and when they happen

Unipart Automotive’s brake comparison tests have kicked a hornet’s nest of feeling in the aftermarket and prompted a stern response from TMD. A point-by-point reply to TMD’s actions is forthcoming, says Unipart Marketing Director Andrew Jeffrey, but here he makes an initial statement on the reaction to the tests.