GSF Car Parts opens new Walsall branch
GSF Car Parts has opened its third new branch of the year, and second of the month with addition of GSF Walsall on Monday 11 March. As a result, the GSF network has more than 180 branches across the UK.
GSF Car Parts has opened its third new branch of the year, and second of the month with addition of GSF Walsall on Monday 11 March. As a result, the GSF network has more than 180 branches across the UK.
GSF Car Parts is piloting utilising a kind of electric bike to deliver car parts around its London branches. Company representatives report that delivery times are reportedly cut down to as short as just 10 minutes to some garages.
GSF Car Parts executive chairman Sukhpal Singh Ahluwalia and CEO Steve Horne pledged to “invest, expand and improve” the automotive aftermarket business at the firm’s Supercharged for Success staff conference in mid-December 2023. Among the topics covered at the event were the company’s plans to open “a substantive number” of new branches in early 2024.
The Epiris Fund III of private equity firm Epiris has acquired GSF Car Parts (GSF). This is the fourth investment for Fund III, and Epiris has not disclosed financial terms. The Ahluwalia Family Office has also co-invested in GSF Car Parts alongside Epiris, marking Sukhpal Ahluwalia’s return to the car afterparts market. Sukhpal Ahluwalia becomes executive chairman of GSF and Steve Horne chief executive officer.
National motor factor GSF Car Parts has announced a new commitment to introduce accredited mental health training to its team members. The launch of this programme yesterday ties in with World Mental Health Day, a day to raise awareness of the importance of mental health support.
National motor factor GSF Car Parts and final-mile delivery specialists Delivery Mates are partnering for a unique challenge to raise awareness and money for the automotive industry charity BEN. A team of six riders from GSF and Delivery Mates will complete a three-day rally on electric motorbikes, visiting 15 GSF branches along the way. The rally will begin at Midpoint, GSF’s National Distribution Centre in Birmingham, and conclude at its Chester Support Office in the north west.
On 3 August, LKQ Corporation (LKQ) and Uni-Select Inc confirmed that the previously-announced acquisition of Uni-Select by 9485‑4692 Québec Inc, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of LKQ, officially completed on 1 August 2023. This follows a complex and ongoing monopoly-related investigation by UK authorities.
National garage programme Servicesure, run by motor factor GSF Car Parts, has broken records by cutting the most carbon emissions in 2022 through the responsible management of used lubricating oil, of all UK garage networks.
LKQ Corporation, the parent company of LKQ Euro Car Parts, is seeking to divest GSF Car Parts (GSF) following its acquisition of the factor’s Canadian owner, Uni-Select. With the transaction subject to the receipt of anti-trust clearance in the UK, LKQ Corporation made the offer as part of its application for the UK competition authority’s approval. In the interim, LKQ Corporation will not be involved in the day-to-day running of the GSF business with the existing management team remaining in place and the organisation ringfenced from LKQ. LKQ announced its plan to acquire Uni-Select for around US$2.1 billion on 27 February.
National automotive parts distributor, GSF Car Parts has been named as the headline sponsor of EV Ready, the UK’s first ever independent garage event dedicated to electric vehicle skills equipment and technology.
The Parts Alliance has enhanced its DriveTec brake friction range. The number of pads has increased 60 per cent in the last 12 months whilst the range of discs has increased 50 per cent over the same period. The company has also overhauled the packaging.
The Parts Alliance says the Vetech DPF Professional Cleaner launched in 2015 by GSF Car Parts has proved so successful that they will be enforcing recently-acquired design protection rights to help garages avoid ‘inferior copy products’, after successfully patenting the product.
GSF Car Parts’s programme to reintroduce Bendix brakes to the UK aftermarket is running ahead of schedule. The Parts Alliance, GSF’s parent company, announced a long term exclusive Western European distribution agreement for the Bendix braking brand back in October last year. Since then, GSF Car Parts has been building the range of brake pads and brake discs available for popular UK vehicle applications.
The latest edition of GSF Car Parts Garage Essentials catalogue reflects recent optimism at the company around its range of tyre equipment, which it says has “proved particularly successful… during a buoyant 2017.” The increased range of options includes solutions from Tecalemit, Bosch and Hofman, and features an all new EAE package, combining an automated tyre changer with assist arm and wheel balancer, packaged together for just over £2,000.
GSF Car Parts has continued its rolling branch refurbishment programme with Derby being the latest location to gain an upgrade, following improvements to Smethwick last month. The Derby site is located on London Road, near Pride Park; it’s less than a mile from the city centre, with strong walk-in retail counter sales. The branch employs a total of 10 staff and has 5 delivery vans servicing a thriving trade customer base with regular local deliveries.
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