Halfords Autocentre is a British

car servicing A motor vehicle service or tune-up is a series of Maintenance (technical), 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 Automotive industr ...

and repair company that operates across the

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 ...

, specialising in car servicing,

MOT test Mot or MOT may refer to: * Montserrat, UNDP country code Media * Ministry of Truth, the propaganda ministry in George Orwell 1949 novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' * ''mot'' (magazine), former German car magazine * Mot (Star Trek), a minor charac ...

ing,

brake A brake is a machine, mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for Acceleration, slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of ...

tyres A tire (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over w ...

, Exhausts, and

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

services/repairs. , there were 314 autocentres in the United Kingdom. It has been part of the Halfords Group since 2010.

History

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

'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 The National Bank of Greece (NBG; ) is a banking and financial services company with its headquarters in Athens, Greece. Founded in 1841 as the newly independent country's first financial institution, it has long been the largest Greek bank, a ...

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 buyouts became noted phenomena of 19 ...

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 Halfords Group PLC is a UK retailer of motoring and cycling products and services. Through Halfords Autocentre, they provide vehicle servicing, MOT, maintenance and repairs in the United Kingdom. Halfords Group is listed on the London Stock E ...

was to buy the company in a £73.2 million deal. The first four rebranded Halfords Autocentres opened in

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

on 24 May 2010, plus one in

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

. 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) approved mechanics, more than any other chain of garages. There were previously strong connections with

The Automobile Association AA Limited, trading as The AA, is a British motoring association. Founded in 1905, it provides vehicle insurance, driving lessons, breakdown cover, loans, motoring advice, road maps and other services. The association demutualised in 1999 ...

, 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

, 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

External links

Halfords Autocentre official website
Automotive repair shops Companies based in Solihull Automotive companies of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 2001 2010 mergers and acquisitions