News

Euro Car Parts has had a busy start to the year with the launch of 12 new branches…all in a single day. The new sites, located in Abergele, Banbury, Burnley, Crewe, Eastbourne, Hereford. Kettering, King’s Lynn, Melksham, Morecambe, Rotherham and Truro takes the total number of ECP branches up to 132.

More investment for the Parts Alliance from HgCapital has been announced, as GMF becomes the latest member to benefit. HgCapital has already invested substantial sums into fellow Parts Alliance members.

Sovereign has secured a new three-year deal with Groupauto. The rotating machines manufacturer and supplier says it has secured the agreement to supply its products to the trading group. The company says it has already enjoyed growth thanks to Groupauto and its continuing partnership with the group.

Autoparts has launched a new web-based management tool for independent garages. The tool, named Workshop Expert Online, has been developed in partnership with MAM. Autoparts says the software can help businesses in all areas, including accounting, daily workshop management, parts lookup and ordering and customer relationship management.

Andrew Page has secured a preferred supplier agreement with the only independent car servicing franchise in the country, iAutoUK. The Coventry business launched the franchise side to its operation at the NEC in October last year.

Independent garages are gaining a greater share of the service and repair market as franchised dealers hit their lowest retention figures since 1998. The latest Castrol Professional Car Servicing and Repair Trend Tracker shows that independents and fast fit workshops captured 47.9 percent of all servicing work.

Motor Codes has launched a mobile version of its garage finder, helping more motorists find their way to the doors of its 7000 member garages this Christmas, including independents. Motor Codes says that with the Christ-mass migration well under way more vehicles are going to need service and repair work.