Auto Windscreens is a United Kingdom automotive glazing company specialising in windscreen repair and replacement. It is owned by Auto Windscreens Services Limited, and is headquartered in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Working predominantly with insurers, brokers and fleet management customers, the company operates a nationwide fitting centre network that utilises a mobile fleet of trained technicians.
It is one of the largest windscreen replacement operations in the United Kingdom, with hundreds of employees working across its sites and at its Chesterfield based customer service contact centre. Auto Windscreens was established in March 2011, after the collapse of the previous company, which had operated since 1971.
Auto Windscreens (1971–2011)
History
The company was founded by an entrepreneur (Brian Holmes) in 1971. It was incorporated on 20 May as Auto Windscreens (Chesterfield) Ltd, as company number 01011907. was part of national windscreens. In 1982, it opened its own manufacturing facility in Chesterfield.
In 1986, it was purchased by the holding company, Heywood Williams, whose businesses portfolio at the time included the largest glass distribution company in the United Kingdom.
In 1988, the company was renamed to just Auto Windscreens Ltd, and in 1989 to Heywood Williams Automotive Ltd. Having sold the glass distribution business in 1990 to Pilkington, Heywood Williams sold the Auto Windscreens company to HSBC Private Equity in August 1998, for £77.2m, reverting to the name Auto Windscreens Ltd.
HSBC left the existing management structure in place, with the intention of a trade sale or flotation at a later date.
A trade sale by HSBC followed in March 2001, with the company being sold to the group Lex Service plc for £112m. Lex were also the owners of RAC Motoring Services Ltd, one of the largest automotive road side repair recovery companies in the United Kingdom, alongside The Automobile Association, and re branded and renamed the company as RAC Auto Windscreens and RAC Auto Windscreens Ltd.
The takeover positioned the company as the contracted supplier to other Lex Group insurance companies, and expanded the visibility of the RAC brand through the Auto Windscreen's vehicle fleet. Having purchased the RAC business from the Royal Automobile Club in September 1999, Lex Group renamed themselves RAC plc in 2002.
The RAC Auto Windscreens business was included as part of the deal to buy RAC plc by the global insurance group Aviva in March 2005.
In December 2008, as their first acquisition in the United Kingdom, the business was purchased from Aviva by the German private equity company Arques Industries AG, a business restructuring and development specialist, for a "symbolic purchase price".
After the purchase, the company reverted to the name Auto Windscreens Ltd, and was re established as an independent brand, with a redesigned logo. In December 2009, the company was sold to Moguntia Invest, a German investment fund controlled by Christian Daumann. Daumann was the Arques executive responsible for their original purchase of the company a year before.
Administration
On 14 February 2011, the company entered administration, suspending trading and sending staff home. With a turnover of £63m, the company had run out of cash after a drop in business leading to an unnamed creditor filing a winding up order.
Cash flow problems had arisen after their former owner Aviva, still a major client, terminated their supply contract, and after IT related delays affected the implementation of a restructuring programme. As the appointed administrators, Deloitte sought to find a source of short term trading capital, pending a sale of the business.
Both before and after the suspension of trading, several other companies took over Auto Windscreen's share of the market, with Autoglass gaining the Aviva contract, as well as National Windscreens, Nationwide Windscreen Services and AA AutoWindshields, being chosen as alternative suppliers by both fleet and private customers.
Liquidation
On 7 February 2011, Trifords Ltd was formed as a business by the parent company Markerstudy Group Insurance, the details of the purpose of this business are still a little vague but by the dates we can see, it was ready for the purchase of AW before the liquidators were called.
After failing to find a buyer for the business as a going concern, Deloitte announced on 25 February 2011 that it had been closed and would be liquidated, with 1,042 staff being made redundant.