Auto Windscreens shattered 15 | 02 | 2011

AUTO WINDSCREENS, the second largest windscreen repair firm in the UK, has gone into administration and threatens the future of 1100 jobs. The Chesterfield-based company today temporarily suspended all operations as administrators from accountancy firm Deloitte said there were no funds with which it could carry on trading.

Customers are being advised to contact alternative firms and the majority of staff have been asked to stop work. A number of factors are believed to have come together to cause the firm to call in the administrators.

It's understood a major creditor served it with a winding up petition, and one of Auto Windscreen's major customers terminated its contract. All of this coincided with cash flow problems caused by lower-than-expected sales revenues at the end of last year. And the problem was further heightened by delays in putting a new IT system in place, which was part of a major restructuring.

Auto Windscreens — which operates 68 fitting centres, 550 mobile units, a call centre and a distribution centre in Aston, Birmingham — had already been in talks about raising additional funds, but an agreement could not be reached in time. The administrators said they would be continuing these discussions.

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Jim McGill