Belron is a vehicle glass repair and replacement group operating worldwide across 34 countries and employing over 25,000 people. Headquartered in

Egham Egham ( ) is a university town in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. First settled in the Bronze Age, the town was under the control of Chertsey Abbey for much of the Middle Ages. In 1215, Magna ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, Belron's brands include Autoglass and Autoglass bodyrepair in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

and Poland, Carglass in most of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Safelite Safelite Group, Inc. is an American provider of vehicle glass repair, replacement, and calibration services and insurance claims management company, based in Columbus, Ohio. History Bud Glassman and Art Lankin started Safelite in a junkyard ...

in the United States, O'Brien in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, Smith & Smith in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

and Lebeau and Speedy Glass in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Operations

Belron brands repair and replace damaged vehicle glass. In many countries, Belron brands are able to repair and replace a customer’s windscreen 24-hours-a-day through branch-based and mobile services.

History

Belron was first founded as a family business in 1897 as Jacobs & Dandor in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. The company was purchased and renamed Plate Glass Bevelling and Silvering in 1899. In 1917, City Glass Bevelling & Silvering Works bought Plate Glass; the companies were merged in 1919 and went ahead to gain success in the windscreen industry by securing the business rights to the curved windscreen production technology in 1953 and introducing laminated rear windows in 1958. The company began its international expansion in 1971, starting with the acquisition of O’Brien in Australia. International expansion continues with the acquisition of two vehicle glass replacement companies in the UK Autoglass® and Windshields. Consolidated as Autoglass Windshields Limited in 1983. In 1990, international acquisitions were grouped together under the name Belron. 2007 Belron acquires US market leader Safelite. Gary Lubner was named CEO of Belron in 2000; both his father and grandfather had also led the business. In 2015, Belron (94.85% owned by

D'Ieteren D'Ieteren SA () is a company, based in Belgium that is engaged in automobile distribution and vehicle glass repair and replacement (VGRR). Activities D'Ieteren is a group of services to the motorist, founded in 1805. D'Ieteren Auto distrib ...

) had some 2,400 branches and 10,000 mobile vans, trading under ten major brands including Carglass and

, serving customers in 33 countries. Revenues in 2015 were €3.1 billion

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.belron.com/ Automotive companies of South Africa Companies based in Cape Town Transport companies established in 1897 1897 establishments in the Cape Colony