Kwik Fit Archives - Page 12 of 13 - Tyrepress

Posts

Stapleton’s Confirms NETE Purchase

Company News, News, UK News

Stapleton’s Tyre Services has officially confirmed that on 28 February 2011 it acquired all the shares of North Eastern Tyre & Exhaust Limited (NETE). However, an official statement issued by the company reported that NETE will continue to trade as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stapleton’s Tyre Services. Stapleton’s representatives said the company intends to complement NETE’s “professional approach to the market and their excellent customer service in order to ensure the future success of both companies.” No further details of the price or the terms have yet been released.

14th March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit confirms Itochu is new owner

Company News, News, UK News

Kwik-Fit Group has confirmed earlier reports that PAI Partners has sold the fast fit chain to the Japanese Itochu Corporation for £637 million. The purchase price is said to include £457 million of debt, which will be paid off in full at completion, according to a Financial Times report. The deal is reportedly Itochu’s biggest investment in the UK and follows its acquisition of Stapletons in 1994. The company is also already talking about the potential synergies between the two businesses:

3rd March 2011/by Chris

Itochu Buys Kwik-Fit for £637 million

Company News, News, UK News

Kwik-Fit has reportedly been sold to the Japanese conglomerate that owns Stapleton’s, Itochu Corporation. According to a City AM report, the deal follows the signing of a three digit million pound deal yesterday (1 March 2011). The article suggests Kwik-fit’s former owner, private equity firm PAI Partners” has “cashed out” of its six-year ownership of the chain for “£637 million, which includes net debts of £457 million.” A Kwik-Fit spokesman refused to confirm or deny the reports when Tyres & Accessories asked for confirmation of the news. Either way, the reports suggest the deal is still subject to regulatory approval.

2nd March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit: Pothole Damage Costs UK Drivers £473 Million

UK car leasing customers are struggling to avoid potholes on the nation's roads, a study has revealed. According to Kwik Fit, nearly four in ten British motorists (or 13.7 million) have taken dangerous action to avoid hitting a pothole over the past 12 months.

24th January 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Wiper Blades on 1/3 of UK Cars Defective, says Kwik-Fit

In the annoying sound stakes, it jostles for pole position with fingernails scraped across the blackboard. For thousands of motorists, all too many a winter journey is accompanied by the cacophony of wipers making their squealing progress back and forth across the windscreen, jarring our aural sensibilities while leaving us with a smeared field of vision. Yet Kwik-Fit rightly points out that this is a torture of our own choosing – the fast fit network’s research shows that one in three British motorists are driving with defective windscreen wipers blades and 56 per cent of us don’t check this easily and affordably replaceable item from one year to the next.

17th December 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit Sells Insurance Business for £215 million

Kwik-Fit Group Limited has announced that it has agreed to sell its UK Insurance business (KFIS) to Fortis UK Limited for £215 million, a division of Belgium-based Ageas. The transaction is subject to the usual regulatory approval, but is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2010. According to the company, the transaction marks the successful completion of a strategic review for the KFIS business announced in February 2010.

Proceeds from the sale will be used to repay debt which, together with funds injected into the business as part of the recently completed covenant reset exercise at the end of 2009, will reduce net bank debt to £486 million. In an official statement on the matter, company representatives said the move leaves the business “in a strong position to exploit growth opportunities in its core fast-fit businesses.” It will also go some way towards halting speculation that the company’s private equity owners (PAI) are looking to sell the entire business as the rumours themselves appear to have been based on the size of Kwik-Fit’s debts.

2nd July 2010/by Chris

Kwik-Fit Investing £100,000 In Scottish Branch Upgrade, Recruitment

Kwik-Fit is has announced plans to invest over £100,000 in installing computer training stations to support staff in their learning and development programmes at branches across Scotland. The investment comes as the company begins a recruitment drive, looking to take on up to 100 new staff in Scotland. 40 of these are expected to be employed in Glasgow and this week Kwik-Fit will be holding an open day at the Fielden Street centre for those interested in learning more.

Paul Boulton, operations director at Kwik-Fit, who originally joined the company as a fitter, said: “The skills of our staff are the most important factor in our commitment to first class customer service. The new training centres are just one way in which we ensure our employees can fulfil their true potential within Kwik-Fit. Our staff have the opportunity to rise all the way to the top of the business, and the fact that the management team includes people who started as apprentices is testament to that fact.”

4th June 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit For Sale for £250 million?

Kwik-Fit, the UK’s leading tyre retailer, has reportedly been put up for auction by its owners PAI Partners. PAI, a French private equity group, bought Kwik-Fit from CVC Capital Partners for roughly £800 million in 2005 after seeing off competing bids from suitors including global tyremaker Bridgestone. Newspaper reports from sources including The Guardian and The Scotsman published on the 30 and 31 May respectively suggest that Kwik-Fit has once again attracted the attention of private equity groups including Blackstone, KKR and Permira. However both reports also speculate about the likelihood of Bridgestone’s involvement in bidding for Kwik-Fit’s latest change of ownership. A source close to Kwik-Fit’s owners told Tyres & Accessories that the press reports were inaccurate and “there is no formal sale process,” but confirmed that there is a formal sale process for the firm’s insurance arm.

1st June 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

NTDA to Implement "Major Changes"

Following the National Tyre Distributors’ Association’s (NTDA) annual general meeting yesterday (18 May 2010), the association has agreed to a number of major changes to its organisational and representational structure. The changes follow a review conducted by former chairman Peter Gaster during the last year, which found that a modified structure would better represent regional membership and that the association would benefit from better engagement with its suppliers.

So what has changed? According to the latest NTDA e-zine, the AGM accepted a change to the rules to completely revise the regional representation of its executive council. NTDA members will shortly receive a regionalised nomination form as “a prelude to a voting procedure to elect regional representatives from all eight regions.” The new approach will expand regional representation on the council and provide an on-going link with the smaller companies in membership. Nominations will only be accepted from companies who do not already have a right to a seat on council through their size.

19th May 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Nationwide Autocentre Purchase Brings Halfords Full Circle

Company News, News, UK News

The latest developments in Halford’s complex car servicing history (see Halfords Buys Nationwide Autocentres for £73.2 million – 18/02/10), bring with them a distinct sense of déjà-vous and highlight the cyclic nature of ownership in this industry. From Halfords point of view the latest venture represents a new beginning for a business that is radically different to when it last tried car servicing.

18th February 2010/by Chris

Kwik-Fit to Sell Insurance Business for £200 million

International News, News, UK News

Ian Fraser, CEO of tyre retail giant Kwik-Fit is preparing to sell its insurance wing for in excess of £200 million. According to a report published in the Sunday Times on 14 February, Kwik-Fit has hired bankers at Credit Suisse to carry out a review of Kwik-Fit Financial Services. The report points out that a sale of the operation would help Kwik-Fit cut its debts of around £822 million.

17th February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit Establishes Russian Tyre Retail Franchise Partnership

International News, News, UK News

On 10 February Kwik-Fit Group announced that is has entered into a Frachise agreement with the ROLF Group, one of Russia’s leading automotive businesses. According to the company, the Russian centres will be established under a new brand – ‘White Service’ – for which Kwik-Fit has established a dedicated support team. As well as providing on the support “on the ground” in Russia, Kwik-Fit is inviting White Service managers to visit the UK to shadow their UK counterparts and share expertise. Prior to this deal Kwik-Fit gained similar experience with over 200 existing franchise outlets across eight countries.

16th February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Former Kwik-Fit Employee Fined for “Stupid” Theft

Wolverhampton’s Express & Star newspaper has brought us news on one former Kwik Fit sales manager’s criminal activities. Deepak Uppal, who used to be employed at the fast fit chain’s West Bromwich branch, has pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation following his arrest for tyre theft.

11th November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Feeling Deflated? It’s Time to ‘Go Nitro’, says Kwik-Fit

The one pound per tyre cost attached to Kwik-Fit’s newly launched nitrogen tyre inflation service could reduce, according DFT figures, the nation’s fuel bill by £1.2 billion a year. You can thank the size and dryness of nitrogen molecules for this at the pump frugality – these two qualities make them less prone to leaking or evaporating from a tyre, and therefore correct tyre pressure can be maintained for much longer.

25th August 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Kwik-Fit Gains Presidential Support in Viral Video

International News, News, UK News

Tyre change by Presidential decree… the man in America’s top job pauses from world affairs to discuss a topic of true importance. Of course, it’s just a bit of fun from Kwik-Fit, but the viral film of President Obama does deliver a message worth listening to. The viral video, titled “Obama calls for tyre change”, was produced by advertising agency DDB London.

29th July 2009/by Chris