Halfords Autocentre is a

car servicing A motor vehicle service or tune-up is a series of maintenance procedures carried out at a set time interval or after the vehicle has traveled a certain distance. The service intervals are specified by the vehicle manufacturer in a service schedule ...

and repair company in the United Kingdom, specialising in car servicing,

MOT test The MOT test (or simply MOT) is an annual test of vehicle safety, roadworthiness aspects and exhaust emissions required in the United Kingdom for most vehicles over three years old. In Northern Ireland the equivalent requirement applies after ...

ing,

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s, tyres, Exhausts, and air conditioning services/repairs. As of 2018, there are 314 autocentres in the United Kingdom.

History

Newport River Way Halfords Autocentre branch

Nationwide Autocentre was founded in January 2001, as a former subsidiary of Lex Autocentres, owned by Lex Service plc when it was under the leadership of Andy Harrison. Since 1999, these were part of the

RAC RAC or Rac may refer to: Organizations * Radio Amateurs of Canada * RATCH-Australia Corporation, electricity generator * Refugee Action Collective (Victoria), Melbourne, Australia * Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, US * Rent-A-Center, ...

's motoring division, when it was bought by Lex. 41 former Lex Autocentres became Nationwide Autocentres when the company was formed by private equity group NGBI ( National Bank of Greece Private Equity), who sold their stake in February 2006, when the chief executive was Tom Dunn. From 2006, it was owned by five managers in a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

. Prior to 1993, it was originally known as Lucas Autocentres, with 62 garages.

Acquisitions

It bought 96 Lex Autocentres from the RAC in April 2002, and 54 Stop'n'Steer garages from Kwik Fit in February 2003.

Halfords Autocentres

On 18 February 2010, it was confirmed that bike and car parts chain Halfords was to buy the company in a £73.2 million deal. The first four rebranded Halfords Autocentres opened in Derby on 24 May 2010, plus one in Solihull. Over three hundred Halfords Autocentre outlets are now open across the United Kingdom.

Products

They carry out servicing at 6, 12 and 24 month intervals, with different levels of detail for each.

Structure

They are based at the Halfords Group head office in Redditch, Worcestershire. They have more than five hundred ATA (

Automotive Technician Accreditation The Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) is a trade qualification for all facets of automotive repair in the United Kingdom. It is a voluntary scheme (not legally binding) similar to that for electricians run by the NICEIC and similarly, is ...

) approved mechanics, more than any other chain of garages. There were previously strong connections with The Automobile Association, because in October 2004, when the AA was taken over by a private equity company, Nationwide Autocentre took over the running of fifty AA servicing centres owned by Halfords, including four hundred staff. Later, a deal was done with the AA, whereby the company would pay £10 to the AA for every car brought into a garage.

References

{{reflist
Taking over AA servicing centres in October 2004

Halfords buy the group in February 2010

External links

Halfords Autocentre

Interview with Halfords' Chief Executive in February 2010
Automotive repair shops Companies based in Solihull Automotive companies of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 2001 2010 mergers and acquisitions