SRS Auto Parts

Service | Reliability | Scottish

HISTORY

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Founded by Paul McKenna in 1982, SRS Autoparts has been serving the Scottish motor trade for the past 35 years.

03 Now in the hands of Paul’s daughter Noreen, SRS Autoparts is looking forward to continuing to innovate over the next threeand-a-half decades.

The company started life as “Steering Rack Services Ltd” in Bellshill, Glasgow manufacturing and re-engineering steering racks.

The delivery ‘fleet’ at that time comprised just one van but the demand for the firm’s products was so great that its product range quickly expanded into selling a wide range of replacement parts to the trade.

Paul McKenna continued to grow the company organically until it grew into a fully-fledged wholesaler to the motor trade within just a few short years.

It traded in this way for decades, successfully providing local motor factors well into the 21st century until Paul’s daughter persuaded him that the market was changing - and that their company needed to change with it if it was to survive.

Always quick to listen and innovate, he agreed and SRS Autoparts metamorphosed from a wholesaler into a motor factor that dealt directly with the local garage trade in 2011. The Glasgow branch, by now in its third location, was soon joined by others in Edinburgh and East Kilbride.

Product Range SRS Autoparts stocks and delivers millions of OE-quality car and light commercial parts to local businesses every year. It also has a further two outlets in Edinburgh and East Kilbride that not only supply the motor trade via a fleet of delivery vans but also have retail shops inside, enabling them to cater for walk-in retail customers wanting to buy service parts and consumables, car care products and accessories as well as more complex parts and components.

All three branches can also supply both garage and retail customers with a huge range of tools and garage equipment, with everything from a spanner to a four-post lift being available either in stock on via its specialorder service.

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SRS Autoparts keeps more than £1,000,000’s-worth of parts in stock at any one time, and six-monthly stock cleanses ensure that every single item reflects the changing demands of the vehicle parc your customers own, drive and operate.

If your service and repair needs are more specialised and can’t be met off the shelf, the team at SRS will pull out all the stops to get original equipment-quality parts to you at a price your customers will love by calling on the resources of GA (Group Auto), the largest buying group in the United Kingdom.

Because SRS Autoparts only sells top quality, original equipment brands such as Valeo, Denso, Bosch, Klarius, Mahle, Reinz, LUK, Gates, NGK, and Delphi your customers can benefit from the European Union’s ruling on Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulations (BER) enabling you to repair even the newest vehicles while protecting the manufacturer’s warranty on their vehicle.

Coverage SRS Autoparts aims to deliver to garages and service centres throughout the Glasgow, Edinburgh and East Kilbride area within 30 minutes of receiving the order. “We want to be a one-stop shop for all our garage and trade customers,” said Noreen Hoolaghan, who took over the role of managing director in 2012.

“We have greatly increased our stock holding and distribution network and opened a brand-new call centre to maximise our services in Edinburgh, Glasgow, East Kilbride and surrounding areas.”

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RETAIL

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While the core of SRS Autoparts’ business remains the supply and delivery of automotive spares and supplies to local independent garages, fast-fit service outlets and MOT centres, both the Edinburgh and East Kilbride stores also offer modern and attractive retail areas for members of the public to browse.

The staff in both branches is dedicated to providing the public with the same high-quality customer service that the motor trade has been enjoying for decades. So, whether you’re looking for wiper blades, an oil filter, winter deicer, or even just a bulb why not give SRS Autoparts the chance to help you to keep your car looking and running beautifully?

Future developments While SRS Autoparts is looking forward to working with local businesses for another 35 years, it understands that it must remain nimble and flexible enough to adapt to meet the changing demands of the marketplace, which is why it has opened a centralised call centre in East Kilbride.

The team, many of which have relocated from within the company to work there, is keen to maintain the personal touch for which the company has become famous; you will still be talking to the same dedicated professionals you’ve always talked with, it’s just that they will all be in one place now.

The firm is also looking to open a fourth motor factor in Scotland in 2018, bringing the total number in the region to four.

Noreen Hoolaghan Managing Director “We know we need to continue to innovate to ensure that our customers can enjoy the best possible service, and the new call centre is a key part of that strategy. Centralising our resources in this way enables us to co-ordinate stock and deliveries more efficiently, which results in an even better service and helps us keep our prices low, which our customers love!” laughs Noreen.

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SRS Autoparts currently employs 73 members of staff across its three branches and the East Kilbride call centre, a number that will rise when a fourth motor factor opens in 2018.

014 However, Noreen and the management team - a team headed up by her husband who brings 22 years of motor trade experience to the role understand that quality parts and keen prices are only part of the story, and for busy garages and body shops having access to the very best customer service is just as important.

Yet, with more than 70 members of staff spread across multiple branches, maintaining consistency and knowledgeability is going to be a constant challenge: to this end, SRS Autoparts delivers both in-house and external training to

ensure that you benefit from being able to talk to wellinformed staff that are empowered to deliver the level of customer service that will bring you back time and time again.

Number of vans The delivery fleet now comprises 32 vehicles, all of which are dedicated to helping the company achieve its 30-minute target for delivery of in-stock items: SRS Autoparts knows that getting the right part to you as quickly as possible is the key to maximising your workshop’s productivity and profitability.

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SRS Autoparts realised that needed more than “sheer determination and staff and customer loyalty” if it was to continue to compete on equal terms with its much larger competitors.

019 What it needed was the back-up and support of a national buying chain – and the obvious choice was Group Auto, or GA, the largest buying group of its kind in the UK. Membership of GA not only enables SRS to draw upon an unrivalled selection of household name and original equipment brands, it also opens the door to the collective knowledge of more than 25,000 garages (both car and commercial vehicle), 450 motor factors, plus thousands of fast fit outlets, body repair shops, and specialist and DIY retail chains.

As a result, SRS brings nationwide support and buying power to a local family business, enabling you, the customer, to benefit from the very best of both worlds.

In fact, Noreen was so impressed with the advantages that her company’s membership of Group Auto brought that she now sits on the group’s Strategic Buying Committee, a key role that helps others across the United Kingdom

to benefit from GA’s expertise and massive buying power.

Customer Training SRS Autoparts believes in offering a complete package for their customers and has a number of its independent garage customers on the ‘AutoCare Programme’, a comprehensive support programme that helps garages develop and build their signage and branding, software & IT systems, technical training courses and marketing.

In addition, SRS Autoparts has helped 40 of its garage customers to complete their MOT continuing professional development (CPD) course so far this year, with 14 more being successfully coached through the week-long course needed to become an accredited MOT tester.

Why not contact SRS to discuss how it can help develop your staff’s knowledge, skills and expertise even further?

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Unit 19 100 Borron Street Rankin House, Port Dundas Glsgow G4 9XG Tel: 0141 353 1202 Unit 7 Bonnigton Ind. Estate Newhaven Road Edinburgh EH6 5PY Tel: 0141 353 1202 5 Springburn Place College Milton Ind Est. East Kilbride G74 5EG Tel: 01355 233147

WWW.SRSAUTOPARTS.CO.UK