The century-old Andrew Page brand is to be dropped as owner LKQ Europe rebrands its UK factors under a single identity.
Both Andrew Page and Euro Car Parts will rebrand as ‘LKQ Euro Car Parts’ as part of a phased roll-out. All employees will now gain access to the same information and systems as revealed in the June edition of CAT.
Across Europe, the LKQ Group is working on a number of integration projects, including the transition to unified purchasing, which will increase the global market leader’s buying power and ability to collaborate with suppliers on innovation.
Andy Hamilton, CEO of the LKQ Euro Car Parts Group, said: “The introduction of the LKQ Euro Car Parts brand is a milestone in our evolution as a business in the UK and Europe”
“Together, as LKQ Euro Car Parts in the UK and as part of the wider LKQ Group in Europe, we are stronger, more competitive and better able to offer a market-leading customer experience”.
READ: ANDREW PAGE AND ECP TRAINING PROGRAMMES MERGE
“At a time when the aftermarket faces some significant and transformational challenges, we are going to be better-equipped than ever before to help prepare it for the future.”
Some recently-merged Andrew Page and Euro Car Parts branches will be among the first to be rebranded under the new LKQ Euro Car Parts fascia.
READ: BREAKING: ECP PARENT ACQUIRES ANDREW PAGE
Andy Hamilton added: “It’s been four years since Andrew Page joined the Euro Car Parts family and we’re proud of the role we played in safeguarding hundreds of years of collective expertise in the aftermarket.
“From the beginning, we had a clear rationale to bring some of the industry’s best people together and give them an unrivalled scale and cutting-edge enterprise solutions tools that make their jobs easier.
“Following these changes, we will continue to have an unrivalled nationwide branch network, and will be in a stronger position than ever to drive the business forward.”
There are no current plans to change the LKQ Coatings and Arleigh International brands.
I worked for CAF & AP for 11 years from a driver through to a Sales Manager and have been one of the few lucky ones to have been brought over to ECP in a rebranded branch.
From day one I had fully embraced and lived and breathed the company as they say and toed the company line.
In the later days (pre LKQ) they were very dark days at branch level and felt like we had been left to rot, I worked between 2 branches and both had a scary amount of empty shelves.
THE MV replenishment program never worked and we found ourselves ordering from FPS no end of times, for high cost, low profit, just to get the sales.
I must say however, since the finalisation of the CMA and the more recent changes with the rebrand and move on to the babbage system, that this is now the most efficient and well run company I have had the pleasure of working for and believe me I was definitely a sceptic back in 16/17.
Yes, we are under pressure and yes due to the volume of what we do, errors do happen, parts don’t always turn up from IBT’s when they should, but we are being given all the tools, there is a very simple and direct hierarchy and there is always someone that is responsible for a certain section of the business and it works very well.
I am nothing but positive about the changes coming in and am very hopeful for the future.
we run a very successful single outlet motor spares store.
we supply the trade and the punter but a lot more punter because quite simply thats where the profit is.
we have been in business for forty three years i started it when i was twenty one i am now sixty four and still going strong.
i can say with some justification that i have seen it all.
i have seen them all come and go .
i have witnessed the big boys with their multitudes of managers and hundreds of vans running round with a spark plug
i have seen a market completely laid to waste at times by these idiots that think price is everything.
the ONLY people that benefit from price wars are traders who are in general the most fickle two faced people you could ever wish to not deal with.
we have a real customer base of punters we fit wipers we fit batteries we fit bulbs we help people when they need us we dont just rely on giving it away to get our customers we work hard.
when i see what ecp do i simply laugh as they are owned by an equally fickle hedge fund who will do the usual and build them up and sell them on.
its boring its non sustainable and virtually everything they do is based around selling the business and when one disappears another one takes its place .
we found our niche in the market many years ago and have built on it ever since and i can tell you we are surrounded by these moronic companies and we dont fear them one iota because we go the extra mile to help people .
my advice to any good ap staff who are given the boot is get a job at a good independant where you will definately be appreciated
Lets not forget that it all started when Andrew Page made millions selling his company at an overinflated price in 2010 as the sale was funded by borrowing at an interest rate (15%) that the new company would never realistically have any chance of paying back. This situation was compounded still further when they borrowed still more money 2 years later to finance the purchase Camberley Auto Factors. Four years later after selling off every asset that the new company had including its own stock and vehicle fleet unaspiringly the company run out of money when it was no longer able to service its debt. Horary for ECP who stepped forward to buy a company that it did not want at a knock down price to stop any of its competitors getting it. Poor management did not help through out the short life of a company that was set up to fail from the start but lets not forget the only person who made millions in all this. Well Done Andrew you pulled off a blinder.
I have to agree it was a fantastic company when mr Page owned it himself,and then it got sold on and just went downhill from there not pointing the blame
Sadly the job losses and branch closures will not be restricted to ECP / PAGE. The other ‘nationals’ are shredding jobs at an incredible rate and I understand a number of temporary closed branches will not reopen. Our market has never managed to sustain one national long term – they all fail, now we have three jostling for that position and all on borrowed US Dollars. The situation was dire even before the current health crisis but their vanity held them back from taking critical action.
I think the rot set in with the appointment of two ex Bosch guys who had no previous experience of running a motor factor operation. They were appointed by Andrew.
The involvement of venture capital made things worse – I have never known them to make anything better?
Leave the independent aftermarket to independent businesses.
The inevitable has happened then. Let’s hope the majority of AP employees keep there jobs.
Regardless of whose fault this is/was these are the people that matter.
ECP wanted this from day one. The CMA might of held it off for a few years but the writing was on the wall on 4/10/16. When the company was bought out.
Unfortunately like it or not the former board of directors have to shoulder some of the responsibility, it cant all be blamed on ECP.
100% correct but they wont admit it ever
I think everyone agrees that AP was on its way down once the VC boys got involved – do they ever improve a company?
They also went the way of every other ‘wannabe’ national factor in the UK. The current trio – LKQ, AAG, Uni Select, will all eventually suffer the same fate.
They will never have a big enough buying advantage over the much sharper independents, no ‘scale’ that covers the additional costs. The big central distribution point, the big head office, useless area managers (many ex Unipart) that are despised by hard working branch staff. Its a business model doomed to fail. Despite their great success in recent years, ECP don’t really do anything that different.
There is also the challenge of making margin on the big OE brands which they all buy and sell at roughly the same prices. Then expecting to make up margin with cheaper own brands from China – good luck with that right now. They treat their UK suppliers with contempt. So, three ‘wannabe’ nationals battling out in a market that has never successfully sustained one. American masters that demand a return but from a tough market, one that just doesn’t generate the levels of margin they expect.
Its disappointing to see, especially considering the multitude of options that were open to ECP, but as soon as the re-branding was announced it was inevitable.
The shame is most of the AP staff lived and breathed the company. – That’s rare these days.
I have to agree though, there was a noticeable downturn once investors took over the company, the penny pinching started small (the quality of the uniforms, the specifications of the vans etc) but eventually took over the rest of the company, effecting the wider operation.
Personally I think they invested in the wrong things, the massive expansion plans, the acquisitions of CAF and Solid Auto when the investments should have been made in IT and supply chains, but its all to late now.
Every other person knocks ECP and their way of business but there’s a reason why they are the biggest supplier in the after-market, why everyone has heard of them and why people still use them.
They also employ some really decent, knowledgeable people – people who wouldn’t stay if they were that bad as an employer…
They just don’t take any bull from the customers and place the emphasis on getting right parts back on the garages – as it should be and as it always was.
I’ve been with ECP for over 12 years now… It’s had its ups and downs but the LKQ ECP is far better than the old ECP!
The AP acquisition wasnt the best, in terms of duplicate geographic locations, the subsequent CMA restrictions then added a massive issue where by ECP couldn’t properly control AP (who were loosing money hence going under…)
CMA forced the sale of various branches, the AP estate was then reviewed and some duplicate locations were merged into bigger/better branches on both sides (very few laid off)
Everything had just started to get settled….. Then Corona Virus stuck and caused a number of problems kfor everyone, the LKQ rebrand was inevitable, but I genuinely believe that if it wasn’t for Corona Virus, they would has been LKQ AP, however the temp closure’s became more obvious as needed, hence the latest closures, up until 4 months ago the were not planned in anyway.
Either you are pleasantly naive or giving a company line. It was always going to happen. It was just a matter of when. Covid just pushed it forward.
Hopefully ECP will keep the majority of AP staff employed with them.
On behalf of myself and fellow ex AP Directors , could I ask that you identify yourself as an “on and off” employee since 1997, and also could you please explain the source, other than your own opinion, of the comment,…the remaining board of Directors didnt have a backbone or relevant idea between them? Im curious to ifentify you and the relevant contributions you made to the company.
Even Id disagree with that having worked closely with some Directors. Can anyone say with a straight face that Simon M had no backbone. The Directors did stand up to investors and then one by one disappeared for whatever reason which speaks volumes. This was all before the place went into admin.
Bravo
Mike I do not need to justify how I contributed to the company, I and many others like me had to make the best with what you incompetent lot had provided us which wasn’t much!!
The gaping holes in the stock profile were evident for all to see, I did type a reply which wasn’t authorised and in it I listed MANY examples of how All Of The Directors FAILED, whilst working for Andrew Page all we used to hear is how the state of the market at the time was ECP’s fault… They were bastardising the market and canabalising profits to make it impossible for anyone to operate, all we heard was excuse after excuse, not one of you have held your hands up and said you got it wrong, not one of you has had any accountability for how incompetent your decisions were, don’t dare ask me how I contributed, I and all the rest of us at branch level did our best and earned our wage 10x over, this is a FACT, not opinion, just as its a FACT that none of the Boardroom could say the same, nothing you could say can or would change those FACTs
Mike I have tried to reply to your comment twice and the replies have not been allowed… I have no reason why as they only contained true facts, hopefully this comment will be allowed, at no point have any of the directors admitted and apologised for their failings, at no point have any of you held your hands up and said you got it wrong, and your arrogance is still evident to this day as your comment proves… You want me to state what I contributed to that company?! Me and the thousands like me who worked on the phones and the warehouses and the vans did All we could, YOUR poor decisions and lack of leadership led to the downfall of that company, nothing else, and we would have a modicum of respect for you and the rest of the ex AP directors if you actually admitted it, but your far too arrogant for that
I along with Thousands of other Branch level staff did our best, we can hold our heads up and say we did what we could, can you and the Board say the same? highly doubt that you can, you’ll just blame someone else as per the usual bull we would hear from the boardroom
You are working for Eurotrash by default having lost your job with A.P.????, you don’t seriously think that working for your current employer has a reputation the same as A.P., it doesn’t.
If you ask any garage if they deal with E.C.P. for service, it’s not…. it’s purely the price on lower standard parts than most other factors…. I’m not slagging E.C.P. off, that’s the reality out there with the garages, they don’t like you!!
The company has gone downhill since the Yanks took over.
Which organisation do I work for BTW, guess….
Main Competitor, your right Andrew Page was an awesome company to work for. I started in 2009 as a driver working up onto the phones, worked there for 5 years building excellent relations with customers. Your time frame is a little off though. Andrew Page was an amazing ‘Family’ until Mr Page sold up to Pheonix! Not when ECP took over. We had a pep talk by our manager saying things would stay the same and would be better with more stock availability blah blah blah! 6 Months later it was hell on Earth! ECP moved into the area and managers took a reactive rather than pro active response, the rest is history! AP managers “More more more was the work request with no reward and if you don’t like it you know what to do! Also worked for Euro briefly later on and have to say, its not for everyone but I was treat better as a member of staff than the Phoenix days of AP. I’m not digruntled, this is just how it was. Maybe ex-AP Directors and Managers need to admit they got it wrong? Seems they are too busy spitting pips at ECP. I’ll close with this though, MR PAGE, wherever you are now, YOUR COMPANY ‘WAS’ THE BEST!!!
I chose to leave before the ship sank, all those who payed attention could see what was coming, no stock on shelves for bread and butter cars, calling FPS 20+ times a day to fill in for the gaping holes on the shelves where the correct stock should have been, doesn’t take a genius to work out something was very wrong with that picture, this was way before ECP took over
identify yourself as stated earlier
You seem to want me to care who you work for… let me clarify…I don’t
The future looks bright for the company. Unfortunately that can’t be said for the hundreds of Andrew page staff that you will be making redundant in the near future.
Hats off to you…..NOT!!
Well planned out
Disgusting company
Good luck with the rebrand. Good luck also with the switch to one system – I wonder which one it will be? Its taken them so long for any real integration.
The idea that they can increase their buying power is just complete bull. I guess it keeps the investors back in the US onside though
Yeah….. blah blah blah, same old ECP bullshit, you can’t hide the fact no one in the trade likes or rates you.
ECP treat all staff, suppliers & customers with total contempt.
Andrew Page were a good company, until getting mixed up with ECP
Yeah, they have an unrivalled network… known in in the motor trade as supplying a shockingly bad service.
No competition……
I agree that Andrew Page was a good company, but it was already a burned out husk when ECP bought it, how long did you work there for? I have worked for them on and off since 1997 and back then it was an awesome company to work for, Unfortunately Andrew sold out to a bunch of messers (Phoenix & Endless) combine this with The fact that the remaining board of directors didn’t possess a backbone or relevant idea between them and unfortunately the result was inevitable!
I am not and have never said what ECP have done to Andrew Page is morally correct, they have however kept thousands of employees paid and in employment for over 3 years
I never worked for A.P., but know a lot of people who used to.
I do work for the biggest independent motor factor, that should give you a clue. I worked for Unipart as a branch manager for 5 years, sadly they were living on past glories, & ended where they deserved.
And E.C.P. or A.P., are (or were) no competition to us at all!!,we are too honest, professional, and actually do what we say we are going to do, unlike Eurotrash, who treat staff, suppliers & more importantly customers with contempt.
Don’t tar us all with the same brush, there are some of us who are able to operate effectively whilst still providing that personal touch to our customers, I will agree that there is a massive difference between the service offering from branch to branch but we are not all the same, just as I am sure you will have those within your organisation who don’t operate to the same standard of which you strive to attain, although that standard should also contain not slagging off the competition (eurotrash.. how grown up!).
I have repeatedly slagged of the directors of Andrew Page and Endless and Phoenix on this website due to the fact I have experienced working under them and the misery they caused, but I have never slagged off a competitor and nor would I, its unprofessional and it shows more of your character than it does of anything else.
Main Competitor, hate to state the obvious but the ‘Trade’ was happy to buy from ECP when they were giving everything away!