Belron International Limited is a British-South African vehicle glass repair and replacement group operating worldwide across 34 countries and employing over 25,000 people. Headquartered in

Egham Egham ( ) is a 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 Carta was ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Brands

Belron's brands include Autoglass in the

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, Carglass in most of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, O'Brien AutoGlass in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Safelite in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Smith & Smith in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and Lebeau and Speedy Glass in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

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 is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. 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 The windshield (American English and Canadian English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from t ...

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 continued with the acquisition of UK companies Autoglass and Windshields, which merged as Autoglass Windshields in 1983. In 1990, international acquisitions were grouped together under the name Belron. In 2007, Belron acquired US market leader Safelite.

Gary Lubner Gary Lubner (born 1959) is a South African businessman and philanthropist. He served as CEO of Belron, the parent company of Autoglass, from 2000 to 2023. He is the founder of the charitable foundation This Day and has been a major donor to the ...

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) had 2,400 branches and 10,000 mobile vans, trading under ten major brands including Carglass and Safelite, serving customers in 33 countries. Revenues in 2015 were €3.1 billion.

References

External links

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