27. Kwik-Fit

Fee and commission income (2001): £21.6m

Pre-tax profit (2001): (£3.7m)

Address:
2 Forrest Gate
Tannochside Business Park
Uddingston
Glasgow
G71 5PG

Tel: 01698 804014

Fax: 01698 804099

Email: info@kfis.co.uk

History: Kwik-Fit Insurance Services was established in 1995 and is based at Tannochside Business Park in Uddingston. The 800-strong call centre, which is part of the Kwik-Fit Group, currently handles more than 15,000 calls every day and contacts more than 1 million Kwik-Fit customers every year.

The company also beat off competition from major UK organisations to win the overall award and winner of the Best Large Organisation in the Financial Sector at the Daily Telegraph/Energis Customer Service Awards 2000.

It was also overall winner across all sectors. The prestigious accolade was awarded to Kwik-Fit Insurance Services, after anonymous service checks impressed the judges and demonstrated the company's attention to detail and progress made in raising service levels. In 2000, the company announced the launch of its Premier Project with plans to invest £10m in new computer systems.

The multi-million pound project to implement cutting-edge technology is part of the insurance company's aggressive plans to increase market share and take full advantage of e-commerce opportunities.

For the 2001 year of account, fee and commission income was £28.1m.

Chief officer: Martin Oliver, managing director; Eric Sanderson, chairman

Biography: Eric Sanderson, aged 49, has been managing director since January 2000, having previously been a non-executive director. His background is in banking, having earlier graduated in law and qualified as a chartered accountant. He also graduated from Harvard Business School's Advanced Management programme.

For a number of years he was chief executive of British Linen Bank, the investment banking arm of Bank of Scotland. He later became chief executive of Bank of Scotland Treasury Services and a member of the management board of Bank of Scotland, which he left in 1999. In addition to his executive responsibilities, he is currently deputy chairman of Airtours and chairman of the advisory panel of The Docklands Light Railway.

Major shareholders: Ford Motor Company

Number of UK branches: 1

Number of employees (2001): 700