Company grows 74%, hires more than 200 staff over past year
The automotive glazing industry has been in decline over the last year after being hit hard by the mild weather and the economic downturn.
But National Windscreens has been bucking the trend, growing by a record 74% over the past 12 months and has just announced plans to expand further in 2012.
The company has signalled its intent to be the market leader in the UK automotive glazing sector with a series of high profile account wins in the insurance and fleet sections, including Chubb and Brit Insurance.
It has also taken on more than 200 people and doubled the capacity of its Tamworth-based call centre over the last few months and claims to have the largest branch network in the UK.
This follows a report by Insurance Times last week which revealed that UK insurers have pledged to continue to support Autoglass after the company’s decision to shut some of its branches and make staff redundant.
The windscreen replacement company will close its 36-staff call centre and an estimated 16 out of its 101 branches nationwide, with jobs also set to go at its head office, however most insurers have said this will have no impact on customer service levels.
Peter Marsden, commercial director at National Windscreen, said: “The market recently has slowed down due to the mild weather and current economic climate.
“This however has not required us to alter our growth plans or resourcing levels. We firmly believe that the cutbacks and downsizing announced recently by some of our competitors is a direct result of our continued success.”
National Windscreens currently claims to be the largest independent glass repair and replacement specialist in the UK and the second largest overall in the sector.
Over the past couple of months National Windscreens has been appointed preferred supplier to both Chubb Insurance and Brit Insurance, building on winning the Admiral contract.
The company has also announced this month that it was now the primary supplier to Lex Autolease in the fleet sector.
Marsden continued: “Our success is firmly based on providing the best possible customer service combined with careful cost control.
“We have 114 branches in the UK providing truly national coverage, supported by 800 mobile technicians.
“These branches provide a highly cost effective business model and fast response thanks to the large amount of glass stocks held locally.”
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