FG7 - Geared for the Future

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Magnificent FG7 When the directors of the FG7 group opened for business in 2000, they set out to create a revolution in Northern Ireland’s motor factor sector.

Today it’s clear that they have succeeded.

FG7 gives its members unrivaled buying power, the leverage of having rapid access to a massive range of products, backed with world class IT systems and controlled and dispatched by some of the most efficient, effective logistics support services to be found anywhere.

There are many elements to FG7’s success, but at its core is a management steeped with motor trade experience. All the founding directors had spent their entire careers as motor factors, and knew from hard won, practical experience just what their clients needed, because they’d been clients too. They also knew the best and worst of being at the sharp end of a busy, demanding supply chain and were keen to use that knowledge to create best practice and make this work for a broader audience.

FG7 took its name from having seven founding members, companies that co-operated with one another to smooth parts distribution and storage while adding economies of scale that would have been out of reach of smaller, individual firms, something that gave the collective greater buying power and room to negotiate prices with suppliers.

A decade after its formation FG7 began an unprecedented period of expansion, initiated with the expectation of tapping in to a fast-growing customer base that would have an insatiable need for vehicle parts.

That meant taking over a 30,000sq foot warehouse at Cookstown in 2010.

This was stocked with a vastly expanded range of parts and the company began to recruit more staff as it prepared to go in search of fresh clients.

The headcount increase started with a warehouse manager, followed by a van driver, who was soon kept busy with a daily delivery of parts.

Initially the original seven sites were served as the processes to create rapid, reliable logistics chain were honed finalized and implemented. Soon FG7’s van fleet had grown and more drivers were taken on as daily deliveries increased from one to three.

Operating on a separate landmass from the rest of Great Britain meant that stock levels had to be carefully considered and the decision was made to buy in a wider range of components and consumables to plug any gaps in product availability that might prove slow to fill. It was felt that having slower stock churn for some items was worthwhile if this gave clients just what they needed and a same day service.

In 2013, when FG7’s management was convinced that the stock levels and delivery processes were absolutely fit for purpose it went on a recruitment drive with the express intention of expanding its membership, something that proved easy to achieve.

By the year-end FG7’s client base of motor factors had increased to 17, operating from 21 sites. Finding the additional staff with the right practical and people skills to meet their needs wasn’t easy, but careful, pragmatic recruitment saw the right people brought on board to deal with the explosion in demand in what one FG7 insider described as “a crazy year.”

Despite Northern Ireland weathering the worst economic downturn in living memory, the company was expanding fast, and it was realized that in less than three years FG7 was starting to outgrow its warehouse base and a bigger HQ would soon be needed.

Thus FG7 invested in the purchase of a 65,000sq ft warehouse facility within easy striking distance of Cookstown. Once again showing the pragmatism that has served its customers so well, the company took stock of the best way to use this more than doubling of space.

To begin with the new building was extensively re-furbished, and experience gained from operating FG7’s older warehouse applied to the development of its eventual replacement.

All the floor planning, back offices and complex shelving and stacking systems were mapped out and designed in house, to speed and ease the processes parts pickers would use when seeking out components. The building and its operations were extensively stress tested before it opened in 2015.

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Anyone visiting FG7’s second home would be impressed by the degree of careful design, attention to detail and relentless logic of its layout. These physical elements were married up with some of the most up-to-date back office and IT systems to be found in the sector.

To speed up the ordering process FG7 members can directly access stock lists from their own systems and check availability, then order on line, at which point the system immediately forwards the parts request direct to the relevant component pickers, who then quickly track down and retrieve the items needed and send them for dispatch.

This allows participating motor factors to deal with either on line or face to face customer enquiries as if the FG7-held parts were in their own warehouses, as factors can quickly establish whether the necessary components are available and give an accurate time when they will be delivered or collected.

FG7 is now looking to further refine this system so that clients can order remotely in a way that would have been impossible only a few years ago. Soon any FG7-affiliated motor factor with a screen will be able to use the system.

They already have access to £2m worth of stock, which represents an unrivalled selection of often-complex electronic components, hard parts and consumables, accessed using just in time delivery systems that would be the envy of businesses in Korea and Japan, overseen by a 30-strong, dedicated workforce, who know the business and the needs of its client base inside out.

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One of the reasons that FG7 understands the requirements of the motor factors it serves is that it talks to them. This is more than just lip service, as every month members are invited to its warehouse for meetings where new products are demonstrated and they are invited to discuss any areas where they feel improvements could be made and identify elements that are working particularly well.

This input feeds back directly into how FG7 staff work, and the processes they use to get parts to participating motor factors. These meetings are also a good way for factors to meet suppliers, allowing for a useful exchange of information on products, marketing and other elements. This helps build useful business and working relationships.

The aftermarket is constantly changing and evolving, and vehicle design and logistics technology are undergoing rapid change, which means to survive and prosper motor factors need access to greater economies of scale, the very latest information and the tools to provide ever-higher levels of service.

FG7 offer these things and more, because it cares about its clients’ needs on both a professional and personal level, and really understands what those needs are.

Its promise is to offer the industry leading knowledge, quality, pricing and service.

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Autoparts Direct Belfast’s Autoparts Direct serves a mix of trade and retail customers, bringing an exacting level of service to both client bases.

The company was founded in 1989 by Paddy Cunningham, whose experience of the Northern Irish vehicle parts aftermarket stretches back to the 1970s, so Autoparts Direct’s Falls Road site offers a warm welcome to garage owners and private motorists alike.

Paddy Cunningham is a strong believer in people skills as well as the technical abilities essential in a 21st century motor factors.

“Although we’re primarily a very busy trade operation we’re on a high street so we get a lot of retail customers too, and we’re geared for both markets –we’re here to look after everyone we see,” he said.

The company’s fleet of delivery vans is also kept busy servicing an expanding client base of trade buyers, making regular, free deliveries in the North Belfast area, helping to keep this slickly run operation working smoothly and its customers happy.

Both Autoparts Direct’s highly trained staff have the technical skills of people who really know about the inner workings of complex, modern cars, and can apply this knowledge to the computerized back office systems, designed to find the right parts quickly, either from the firm’s parts department, or where necessary ordered in and delivered within the hour.

This process is assisted by the latest MAM Logistics back office package, whose reliability and functionality Paddy Cunningham believes is an essential component of a well run, modern motor factoring operation.

For vehicle owners tackling home maintenance, staff can key in registration details and mine comprehensive parts lists specific to a customer’s car, helping to find exactly the right components rapidly and accurately.

A complete range of hard and service parts are offered by Autoparts Direct, together with a broader range of parts made by a suite of other well known component manufacturers. Quality and reliability are watchwords for everything the business sells.

The company also prides itself on having hard won insider knowledge that ensures it has the right stock mix to meet customer requirements.

Joining the FG7 group has significantly strengthened the hand of this already flourishing business, according to its boss.

“It’s helped drive what we do forward and further improved our customer base,” he said. “Our margins have increased and we’re more competitive overall because we’re working on a level playing field.”

This has helped Autoparts Direct both to pass on savings to its customers and make significant investments in IT and communications equipment that have brought greater efficiency gains and improved turnover yet further. “I believe we can compete on equal terms with the very best big motor factors,” said Paddy Cunningham.

“We can take on anyone.”

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autoparts Keeping Wheels In Motion

RT Autoparts RT Autoparts is one of Cookstown’s most instantly recognizable businesses.

Formed in 1979, this family orientated firm is very much part of the community it serves, and provides a mixture of ultra modern back office and stocking systems with a personal service for its clients, who are mostly in the motor trade, although the number of private motorists visiting its Morgan’s Hill Road headquarters is also rising steadily.

Co-founder Tom Patrick had begun his career as a mechanic, with experience that included working in bodyshops, before stepping outside motoring to apply his skills for the Northern Irish Milk Marketing Board, working with refrigeration and electronics. When Tom and his friend Robert Kielty saw the business potential of the aftermarket RT Autoparts was born.

“We began slowly, and have grown ever since,” he said. “There were challenges.

When we started the interest rate was 21 per cent, but we’d planned carefully and didn’t have to borrow a lot of money to get started.”

RT Autoparts outgrew its first premises within a year, moving to a site with 5,000sq ft of storage space, but this too was soon cramping the company’s ambition, and it currently operates from a 20,000sq ft site, which is set to be expanded by a further 3,000sq ft to accommodate its burgeoning paint supply and mixing activities.

“It’s a bit different from when we started with one van,” said Tom Patrick. “We used it to pick up goods at the bus station. In those days we didn’t make deliveries at all. now we have sixteen vans and delivering three to five times a day to each customer.

The headcount has also risen. RT Autoparts currently has a headcount of 38, and is looking to recruit more staff, again to assist with its paint business.

The new arrivals will be joining Alfie Glendinning, the business’s very first employee, who has stayed with RT Autoparts ever since.

“Luckily we have great staff. They’re very knowledgeable guys. They’re the sort of people who can fix computers, or sort out an airbag warning light problem without having to look at a manual. If a car isn’t running properly and a customer thinks it might be an air meter problem our people can ask the right questions and sometimes point to something else.”

“Our two paint full time technicians have great experience in their field, fully understanding our customer needs. We even have a staff member who’s a polish expert, and our reps know our products well –and we carry 46,000 items,” said Tom Patrick.

Toms three sons Drew, Niall and Jonathan have all joined RT Autoparts in various areas of the business

autoparts Keeping Wheels In Motion

The company has 95 per cent of the products it sells in stock and ready to go, and keeps up to date with new model launches to make sure that hard parts and consumables for the very latest cars are rapidly in stock. This extends to Japanese grey imports.

“It’s about having the things people need,” said Tom Patrick. “If they want something, we try to give it to them.”

Joining the FG7 group has further broadened its stock offering and enhanced RT Autoparts’ ability to supply urgently needed components.

Anyone phoning the business will speak to a trio of full time call centre employees, taken on so that its busy counter staff can concentrate on a constant stream of customers visiting the company.

RT Autoparts is currently in the processes of massively upgrading and renewing its back office computer systems, having embraced new technology from the start, being one of the very first Northern Irish motor factors to embrace the MAM stock control system. “A factor friend of mine in Wales was using it and I liked what it could do. I think we’ve upgraded our equipment four or five times since first installing it,” said Tom Patrick adding that one of RT Autoparts’ more recent innovations has been to take on a staff member to handle internet sales.

The business doesn’t just provide parts for passenger cars, it has a busy commercial vehicle and farm equipment, something that Tom Patrick understands as he grew up in a farming family. That’s why the company carries everything from bespoke paints to specialist hosing for these client bases.

RT Autoparts isn’t just about service and the bottom line, the company and its staff have become well known for charitable work, overseeing the annual RT Autoparts Charity Cycle event.

A few years back Tom Patrick won a bicycle in a competition. It sat, unused, in his garage until someone suggested taking it out (“I was a bit overweight,” he confessed). This fivemile outing proved fun, and the pair decided to cycle 45 miles to Portrush and use this to raise money for an asthma clinic in Craigavon. “the staff at work said ‘if you can do it so can we, so forty of us ended up taking part,” recalled Tom Patrick. The day was such a success that charities began approaching him to repeat the exercise and to sponsor them. Now an annual event, this get together supports three local good causes, chosen every year, has attracted upwards of 300 cyclists, and has picked up a Queen’s Award.

“We’ve been to Buckingham Palace more than once,” said Tom Patrick. They’ve also raised over £500,000 for mid Ulster charities.

Tom Patrick’s other passion is classic Fords, and he has a collection of some forty cars, starting with a rare Model T ‘doctor’s coupe’ and including a trio of Ford Escort RS2000s.

“If someone is restoring a Mk2 Cortina and needs sill for it or advice I’m happy to help if I can.”As for RT Autoparts, after nearly four decades of trading, this remains an abiding passion. “I’ll arrive at work a 8 in the morning and often won’t leave until 9 at night, but that’s how I’ve always been. I still get a buzz from going to work,” said Tom Patrick.

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M & L Autoparts Since it’s inception in 1982 Omagh’s M & L Autoparts has enjoyed sustained, substantial growth.

The company was the brainchild of business partners Michael McCarron and Peter Lindsay.

Today the business is overseen by Michael and family members Nigel, Deborah and Shauna.

Long term customers might remember M & L Autoparts’ original headquarters at Campsie, and the two full time staff that manned it, helped out by a part time assistant.

With 554 m2 of space filled with stock, this was a compact working environment, but the company was determined to grow its client base by listening to what its garage, retail and dealer customers wanted, and working hard to build local relationships. This has been a constant in the way it has gone about its business.

Fast forward to 1984 and the company bade farewell to its original Campsie home as the removal vans arrived and M & L Autoparts relocated to much larger premises on Gortin Road, where the growth continued.

By 1990 this facility was joined by a second, 1,200 m2 site on the other side of Omagh, which was run in tandem with the older facility. This gave the company space to increase stock and ability to improve its service provision.

However, 2001 saw consolidation when M & L Autoparts was able to concentrate all its activities at a 5,212 m2 facility on the Gortin Road. This was the result of a ‘huge’ refurbishment, creating a modern showroom and expanded warehouse operation, which the business has continued to develop and refine to this day.

Now the staff headcount has increased to 22, with some employees able to give customers the benefit of spending more than 20 years in the motor factoring industry. Finding the right people with the appropriate mix of technical knowledge (which means they can talk as equals with mechanics and engineers, yet have the back office skills and the ability to track down appropriate parts quickly and efficiently), has never been easy, but M & L Autoparts’ directors have spent years nurturing, mentoring and developing their people.

The result is a team capable of working cohesively behind the scenes, who also have the practical and front of house skills to make the process of what is often a distress purchase into something far less stressful.

A dedicated fleet of vans now serves a customer base within a 60-mile radius, making deliveries twice a day, giving busy, pressured trade clients the peace of mind of knowing where their parts are in the system and when they are likely to arrive.

Clients further afield can make use of a next day courier service, allowing the company to sell parts across Ireland and into the UK. Over the counter sales also form an important part of M & L Autoparts’ activities, and it provides a welcoming environment to anyone from a private motorist needing a set of brake pads who wants to be guided through the process of buying exactly the right parts, to a trade customer making a bulk order of consumables.

Latterly its product range has been broadened yet further with the inclusion of engine management systems and window regulators.

Although hard parts sales underpin M & L Autoparts’ business, with brake and clutch parts being in constant demand, the range of items it sells has expanded in recent years as cars have become ever more sophisticated.

This was a direct result of customer feedback which has reflected on the high demand for Meyle products who are a renowned Germany manufacture.

A consistent upward curve on M & L Autoparts sales charts has in part been driven by the tough economic climate of recent years, which has pushed some motorists into hanging on to cars that in the normal course of events they would have traded in. Thanks to this some private drivers are opting to pay for a third cycle of hard parts and consumables as cars keep to their service schedules and mileages rise. Inevitably this leads to a broader range of ageing components needing renewal or replacements, and clients deciding that paying out for these items and making their cars last a little longer is well worthwhile.

None of this stops staff from also keeping on top of new model launches, allowing the company to have parts for the very latest cars in stock almost as soon as they’re launched.

Not only does M & L Autoparts carry an enviably wide selection of passenger car components, and prides itself with having 95 per cent of the items it sells available ‘off the shelf,’ it also offers components for agricultural, light and heavy goods vehicles.

REAL PARTS FROM A REAL MANUFACTURER You might not know it, but there is one thing that sets our product apart from all the others. Every single part manufactured by the Metelli Group was conceived with one and the same objective – to match or improve on the OEM part it was designed to replace.

Depending on the specifications, our brake pads are made with compounds of different composite materials. We are currently launching our very own compound, Hybrix® – a new and patented technology which sets a new benchmark in the field. Brake pads made with the Hybrix® compound have an unmatched combination of performance and comfort.

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REAL PARTS FROM A REAL MANUFACTURER You might not know it, but there is one thing that sets our product apart from all the others. Every single part manufactured by the Metelli Group was conceived with one and the same objective – to match or improve on the OEM part it was designed to replace.

Apart from a full range for aftermarket, we supply original equipment braking systems and brake parts for other brake manufacturers. This includes wheel cylinders, brake master cylinders, pressure regulating valves, slave and master cylinders for clutches and more.

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One Stop Motorshop One Stop Motorshop is a prime example of a modern motor factors that understands its market.

Very much part of the communities it serves, the company employs that latest logistics technology and warehousing facilities to provide efficient, fuss free parts provision for a wide range of customers in Letterkenny, County Donegal and Carraroe and County Sligo.

Now in its eighteenth year of trading, One Stop Motorfactors was founded by Charlie and Rosemary Doherty and have since been joined in the business by son Cathal.

Charlie brought a great deal of factoring experience to his new venture.

“I was involved in the motor trade and had built up a number of contacts when I decided to make the change. We first set up in Letterkenny on the Port Road and as the business began to grow, we moved to bigger premises in the Dry Arch Business Park where we are still located to this day,” he said.

In 2011 the company also opened a Sligo branch and now has a 26 strong staff, who bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to their work, mixing people skills with the ability to find exactly the right components from a stock list of some 200,000 items. The company’s intention is to have parts for every model of car on Ireland’s roads.

“Our aim is to have a part here for a customer when they come in or contact us. We have nine service vehicles covering the North west twice daily, while for the rest of the country, we have a next day service,” said Charlie Doherty.

“We source some of our parts abroad, while a lot would come from the distributors. Our customer base is expanding all the time and we’re fortunate to have a lot of repeat custom, which we are very grateful for. Expanding the business is always something that we are interested in and to this end we joined the FG7 buying group in 2014. With its access to over thirty leading suppliers and through the increased buying power of the group we can obtain the best possible prices for our customers,” he said.

For the past seven years the firm has supplied agricultural vehicle parts, and these have become important elements of One Stop Motorfactors’ business.

“We know that the farmers and agricultural contractors need the parts as quickly as possible and we endeavour to get them what they need as soon as possible,” said Charlie Doherty.

His company is always on the lookout for fresh markets and business opportunities, which has meant a recent expansion into the replacement vehicle-glazing sector, while light van and commercial vehicle owners have come to appreciate One Stop’s ply lining service, which includes flooring.

Another good example of the company’s ability to find a niche market and develop it is firm’s number plate printing service, which has been expanded so that firms in the motor trade can source complete number plate printing kits from One Stop.

“The system includes everything required. Computer, printer, software and blank number plates,” added Charlie Doherty.

Providing everything its customers might need is very much what this firm is about.

A&R Autoparts Larne-based A&R Autoparts boss Nigel Marshall has a straightforward business model.

“Have the right quality part at the right price as quickly as possible.”

Set up in 2012, in the teeth of recession, A&R Autoparts, which operates from a modern warehouse and office facility on the Ledcom industrial estate, has proved that in depth knowledge, enthusiasm and a real understanding of both customer needs and customer service, can create a successful, expanding business capable of meeting ever-increasing demand.

“We work on the ethos of ‘you ring, we bring,’” said Nigel Marshall. “Our delivery systems are localised, and we need a pair of vans to meet customer needs. Where possible we aim to deliver parts within twenty minutes.”

Nigel understands the challenges his clients deal with every day. His grandparents ran garages and he’s a life long car enthusiast, who began his working life in a vehicle accessory shop, dealing with retail buyers. He switched to the aftermarket while living in Australia, where he worked for the country’s biggest motor factor. Back home he was brimming with ideas, knew about good practice in the aftermarket, and today brings three decade’s worth of experience to his business.

Part of that experience is really knowing how to deal with people, that this is something every employee of A&R Autoparts takes on board. It’s not enough to be able to track down exactly the right hard parts from a massive computer database; being able to engage with customers is also a pre-requisite.

The idea is to make the buying process pleasant and easy, so that customers enjoy the experience, especially when they know the person searching for their parts genuinely understands what they want. Confidence and trust cuts the risk of error.

“We like our customers,” said Nigel. “We’re in a good part of the world and they’re a great bunch of people.”

Although the vehicle parts aftermarket is constantly changing and evolving, the increasingly complex nature of modern cars has meant that A&R Autoparts has to carry an unprecedented selection of items. The company has seen strong upward growth for perennial hard parts, notably clutches, suspension components and bushes, brake pads, discs and fast selling calipers, helped in part by Northern Irelands tough vehicle testing laws and people choosing to hang on to their cars for longer, pumping money into service and maintenance parts for extended periods as these cars age.

With seemingly endless variations of often-similar items, having the right stock is also vital, and the company carries an impressively expansive selection of components, working on the basis that the more parts there are to hand, the more satisfied customers will result.

“It’s all about marrying everything up, and getting it right first time,” said Nigel.

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Alec Orr The Alec Orr motor factoring business has been a fixture in Derry and Donegal since 1975.

Alec Orr, who’d begun his working life as a garage store man, decided to apply the skills he’d developed to sell vehicle parts, and founded the company to do this.

This was in an era of bulky paper catalogues and microfilm diagrams, things Stephen Orr, his son and current business owner, thinks would baffle some of the younger members of its seven strong staff.

“I’d have to explain microfilm to them,” said Stephen, who has worked in the business for the past three decades, grew up with it, and still remembers when it moved into its current location back in 1979.

“We’ve had a few refurbishments since then,” he said.

What hasn’t changed is the company’s deep repository of in house knowledge, helped by a team of staff who will be familiar faces to its regular customers, including one who has been with Alec Orr more or less from the start.

“This is a difficult job to train someone to do well. In my opinion if would take two years to train a new recruit with a reasonable knowledge of cars and get them really up to speed,” said Stephen Orr. He reckons that some of today’s generation of motor factors are good at making computers work, but don’t always have personal and technical skills needed to guide busy customers to the parts they need.

The bulk of those customers are from the motor trade, but around a quarter are retail buyers, and Alec Orr’s shop and counter service is as friendly and easy going for car enthusiasts and do-it-yourself mechanics, as it is for garage owners in urgent need of service parts.

However, both benefit from some of the most up-to-date back office software, which swiftly marries up exactly the right parts to a given vehicle.

According to Stephen Orr, effective Internet systems have also become vital, as on line sales now form a crucial part of the business.

The company has expanded into the complex area of vehicle paints and produced a range of hydraulic products, such as power hoses, that sell alongside a comprehensive selection of hard parts, renewables and accessories such as aftermarket shock absorber kits, along with more specialist items such as body panels.

Trade clients within a ten mile radius benefit from a rapid delivery service based on need rather scheduled runs, and this ties in well with the flexibility of being a member of the FG7 family.

Being part of Ireland’s premier buying group means that it has been possible to speed up delivery of big selling items while retaining less of them in stock, because they are readily available from FG7’s massive warehouse and dispatched to participating motor factors three times a day.

“The work is still challenging, but I enjoy it,” said Stephen Orr. “There’s always something different, something new to learn.”

AutoBits Armagh-based AutoBits is a traditional business with a modern outlook.

Although it has embraced new technology in a big way, face-to-face relationships have always been an important part of the way AutoBits works.

The company has been serving retail and trade clients for thirty five years, and is very much a family business, as it was set up in 1981 by Seamus McDonagh, who cut his motor trade teeth in the bodyshop sector before deciding that Armagh was in need of a professional motor factoring business and that he was the man to provide it.

This was very much a family run operation, with Seamus’s wife Teresa running the back office. Their son Marty joined the business in 1996, and has been at the helm for the past decade.

These days AutoBits has a headcount of six, all of whom bring different areas of expertise to a sector that has become vastly more complex and competitive, although one, Francis McClusker, has been with the business from the very beginning, and provides encyclopedic knowledge appreciated by colleagues and customers alike.

Those customers are a mix of private drivers and people who work in the motor trade. Thanks to the proliferation of vehicles that share components but also have many unique parts, and are vastly more complex than models made a decade ago, having the correct stock to hand, and the ability to accurately pin point exactly the right components is at the heart of what AutoBits does.

Hard parts remain the biggest sellers, but the variety of parts has expanded to include the sort of electronic items that make today’s cars so complex, but whatever the parts, providing a rapid service to keep workshops busy, is what this operation is all about. This was one reason why AutoBits affiliated itself with FG7, tapping in to the buying group’s unrivalled spread of parts and high-speed dispatch.

“It’s been a fundamental part of our recent success,” said Marty McDonagh,. “As FG7 members we’re still independent, but we have the back up and knowledge of a big group,” he said.

The monthly meetings of FG7 members and its suppliers have also been useful for AutoBits. “It’s a great way to develop strategies, get to know suppliers and find out what’s happening on the market,” said Marty McDonagh.

One area where AutoBits has specialized is paint supply, taking on a full time staff member so that it can offer products such as touch up paint and specially mixed aerosols. This has meant investing in a paint scanner and having the correct colour codes and matches.

Further expansion is part of AutoBits’s strategy, which will see yet further broadening of the stock offered, but the company and its staff are determined to keep the personal touch which has been a hallmark of the way it’s done business from the beginning.

Since 1979 Sealey has grown to become one of the largest tool and equipment suppliers in the UK, with a network of over 6,000 independant distributors. Providing an extensive range of over 8,000 products, including Garage & Workshop, Bodyshop, Agricultural, Janitorial, Engineering and Vehicle Service Tools, gaining recognition as a leading brand by professionals and enthusiasts alike. Located in Bury St. Edmunds occupying a total of 21 acres, including a new dedicated Service Centre housing over 130,000 different parts, Sealey thrive to provide the best aftersales service in the business!

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GT Exhausts GT Exhausts are a leading manufacturer of emission control exhaust systems, offering the most complete range of Exhausts, Catalytic Convertors and mountings for the aftermarket. We also manufacturer and offer bespoke solutions for Northern Ireland’s leading specialist vehicle converters for wheelchair accessible vehicles, taxi’s minibuses, vans and OE manufacture to many of Ireland’s material handling companies GT Exhausts innovative designs, along with our research and development allows us to manufacture a product that improves on the original quality, redesigning, and strengthening the exhaust. GT design and manufacture a product to better, or match original quality Redesigning, improving, strengthening, supporting OE weakness with the closest fitability to OE in the aftermarket. This in turn ensures GTE are 1st to market with the new replacement exhaust, DPF and catalytic converters. One of GTE USP’s is ensuring that fitability to the OE is most important for the fitter. In order to ensure high quality of manufactured products, all stages of production are covered by inspections using ISO9001, ISO14001 & ISO18001.

GT Exhausts has evolved and changed to meet the demands of the market from a wholesale perspective but also recognises the need to support our customers who have an online presence . We have now aligned our information and data to ensure we can be more competitive in the market offering the most up to date data which will ensure we maintain our market share ensuring sustainable growth and success in the years to come

Over the last 6 months, GT Exhausts have invested heavily in technology resulting in the launch of our new website which will come on line at the end of September.

This will not only offer our customers exclusive access to an online account but enable the customer to check real time stock levels and pricing along with VRM product search, fitment application and add to cart options With this platform in place we can deliver the latest information at the touch of a button such as our new to range products and all the latest developments within GT Exhausts. We can also offer new options to our customers who require a livestock feed and a drop ship option linked via our EDI portal which automates orders and tracking if needed.

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This further strengthens our route to market giving our customers the confidence when buying from GT ensuring the right product at the right price , first time , every time As we move towards 2017 , GT Exhausts is looking to continue to enhance and develop its products range supported by the latest data and information. If you would like to discuss our range in more detail and the new online options that are now available then please contact our dedicated sales team on 028 66 322 282.

Motor & Commercial Parts The fourth of July is a famous holiday in the United States, bit for Dungannon’s Motor and Commercial Parts it also marks it’s independance day.

It was on that day in 1990 that Wesley Forde started his career as a motor factor, with no additional employees. These days, some 26 years on, Motor and Commercial Pars has a head count of nine staff, supporting the local area with automotive parts available at competitive prices and with rapid deliveries.

That growth is reflected at the firm’s premises, as its showroom has been extended to cope with increased demand and increased customer footfall.

For those not wishing to visit personally and benefit from the friendly face-to-face relationship, there is a fleet of three vans running from Dungannon offering customer deliveries up to four times a day.

Getting the right part for the right vehicle is an ever more complex task, with modern cars sharing components that are all named and numbered differently. Added to that, there is the technical density of modern drive trains that complicates matters further, while the trend to replace failing items rather than repair means there’s an increased demand on suppliers to get things right first time.

That’s where an investment in the latest technology keeps Motor and Commercial at the cutting edge of aftermarket parts supply. Using MAM Software’s Autocat online parts catalogue allows Wesley Forde and his team to have access to the most up to date parts information using a cloud-based system, rather than relying on monthly updates.

The system also enables the team to aid customers in searching for specific parts, with the ability track down components by a vehicle’s VIN number, ensuring the correct parts are ordered at the correct price.

Combined with being part of the FG7 group, Motor and Commercial is well placed to ensure that customers receive the best parts at the best prices.

“Thanks to being part of a large buying group, we can offer a wide range of spare parts at better prices as well as carry a wider range in stock,” says Wesley Forde.

“Being close to the FG7 warehouse means that we can get parts in just a few hours, helping to keep our customers on the road.

“FG7 membership enables Motor and Commercial to participate in a competitive market, offering better deals than ever and matching or even beating our local competitors.”

It’s the family service that keeps customers coming back, too. While Wesley Forde has been running the company since its foundation twenty six years ago, he is proud to see that his son, Alan, has also joined the family firm. As long as there’s that buzz, and there always is in this industry, then Motor and Commercial Parts will be there to support its customers. “I’ve always loved working in the motor trade, and I’m delighted that my son Alan gets the same buzz about it as I do,” he added.

Ballynahinch Motor Factors Ballynahinch Motor Factors has been serving a broad customer base since 1980.

The firm was set up by Gerry Rodgers, with his son Gary taking over fourteen years later.

The company describes itself as a one-stop shop for all motoring parts and accessories, and it was created because Gerry Rodgers knew from personal experience what people in the motor trade needed from a motor factor.

“Dad was a mechanic and once a week he would make a run to Belfast to buy parts, and in the end he decided he could supply them himself,” said Gary. “I’ve grown up with the business. I remember moving stock from dad’s garage to our shop. I’ve been here since I was five years old!”

With around 75 per cent of Ballynahinch Motor Factors’ customers coming from the trade (although the business also welcomes retail buyers) and Gary describes today’s motor factoring industry as “very on demand.”

The company has a broad range of products made by companies including meyle, mahle, aslanol, suplex, moog, durite, trusting, and offers a sector-leading selection of hard parts, consumables, electrical items, transmissions, number plates and even paint.

It has tapped in to the FG7 network as a means of further expanding an already comprehensive and impressive stock list, controlled with the latest back office IT systems.

“FG7 has helped us achieve the position we have now, widening our parts base and opened up a lot of new suppliers,” said Gary Rodgers. He has found the speed of dispatch, aided by an ordering system that puts factors directly in touch with FG7’s warehouse staff, especially useful when tracking down urgently needed components.

Ballynahinch Motor Factors has also linked in with DVLNI vehicle database, to identify parts that are specific to given cars, cutting down the risk of the wrong components being specified.

“We try to get the information as specific as possible, as sometimes it can be difficult to pinpoint parts,” said Gary Rodgers. The company also uses a bespoke original equipment parts locating website as a further aid to accuracy and a means of getting the right parts to clients as rapidly as possible.

The range and nature of the parts carried by the business has become more diverse and often far more complex in the past decade, so having these 21 Century resources is vital.

So is the ability to deploy a fleet of vans that are kept busy making twice daily deliveries to clients in Crossgar, Killyleagh, Downpatrick, Strangford, Newcastle, Castlewellan and Hillsborough.

Such is the firm’s success that Gary Rodgers is considering ways to further expand, increase customer choice and find the space to accommodate even more parts. In the meantime he and his expert staff are constantly looking to refine processes and working practices and adapt to an ever-changing market.

“It’s always busy,” said Gary Rodgers. “The phone never stops ringing.”

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Ideally suited to OEM and MRO markets and offered through a network of UK and European distributors Delta offers a range to match the market leaders but with considerable savings.

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C.G. Motor Factors The company was formed in 2012, but Clive Girvan rejected the idea that this was a brave move, given that Ireland was in the grip of a recession.

“There’s no such thing as recession,” he said, “only opportunities.”

His engineering background is a varied and interesting one. Having qualified from the University of Ulster as a mechanical engineer, Clive Girvan’s skills were initially applied to projects as diverse as working on video equipment cases and conveyor belt systems, before being applied to the motor trade, where he reckons to have around three-decade’s worth of experience.

However, he’s kept his hand in as an engineer and is currently developing a system that holds hoses to walls. Patents are being taken out and he is working towards getting this innovative idea into production.

This project hasn’t prevented him from developing CG Motor Factors, which is growing fast and currently enjoys a 50/50 split between trade and retail customers.

Part of its appeal to private drivers has been a willingness to provide aftercare services that sees staff fitting items like headlamp bulbs and windscreen wipers to customers’ cars for a nominal charge.

“Women in particular seem to like it. It just takes away the hassle and they can get on with their day,” he said.

This work has taken some careful pre-planning, as what were once jobs that used to take seconds can now involve partial strip downs of body parts such as bumpers in order to get to lamp clusters.

However, Clive Girvan said that careful advanced research meant that he was confident that only two models of car would require being sent to a franchised dealer so that specialist equipment could be used.

The company also offers a wheel bearing pressing service, which has sometimes come as a surprise to people who’ve arrived at its premises expecting to take the parts away and struggle to fit them.

The company charges £5 to press in bearings bought on site, but if customers bring their own parts the fitting charge goes up to £20. According to Clive Girvan, this has proved a good sales incentive.

Trade customers haven’t been ignored, as the company provides an on demand parts delivery service to clients within a five-mile radius of its base, which has proved to be a lifeline to many harassed mechanics who’ve found themselves with dismantled vehicles and no parts to put them right.

Clive Girvan also thinks inside knowledge is important.

“We try to ask more questions, to make sure that clients get the right parts, and we’ll offer advice if it’s needed. Not everyone does that,” he said.

Joining up with FG7 has proved a good fit of complimentary business models.

“It’s brought us access to a lot of very good quality products at very competitive prices, and that’s made us more competitive,” he said.

CG Motor Factors boss Clive Girvan had a straightforward reason for starting his motor factoring business in Lurgan.

“I’ve stood on the other side of the counter!”

“Also the regular, daily deliveries are great. More than once they’ve proved to be real life savers.”

C.E. Motor Factors This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the opening of C.E. Motor Factors in Dungiven in 1976 quickly followed by its 2nd branch in Limavady.

The business was the brainchild of Charlie Mullin. It began in a garage at his parent’s home, but it wasn’t long before what had started as a part time operation, involving evening and weekend trading, became a fully-fledged, full time business.

“I totally grew up with the business because we used to live in a house that was twenty feet away from the original motor factors. Being involved with it was something I was always going to do. There are home videos from when I was about four or five years old where if people asked where I was going to work, that’s what I’d say.”

According to Cathal Mullin, his father was a keen ‘early adopter’ of computer systems, first using them back in 1986, although the clunky computers, with their floppy disc drives, made heavy work of book keeping, taking hours over things that can be processed in minutes.

Around 70 per cent of the company’s business comes from the motor trade, but operating from an attractive shop in a central location means that there are plenty of private customers to take care of. Both get the benefit of staff with an encyclopedic knowledge of vehicle technology and a range of stock that goes from hard parts and accessories to tools, retail products and paint.

On site stock is carefully controlled, but working with FG7 has proved to be a big success.

Previously quite a high proportion of the stock sold was sourced from the mainland, and this could take upwards of 48 hours to arrive, but the company now has a access to some £2m worth of parts that are just hours away.

This has meant that its four delivery vans, which operate all over the country, are busier than ever.

Cathal Mullin is particularly impressed with FG7’s stock cleansing processes. “The FG7 girls have a schedule at the start of the year and after a time get in touch and ask about items we haven’t sold. We can send them back or decide to keep them,” he said.

“It’s a great safety net because you can invest in stock that you aren’t necessarily going to be left with.”

He has also found that regularly meeting with other participating motor factors that aren’t in direct competition with his company has seen new relationships forged and ideas exchanged.

Cathal Mullin believes that although customers are more demanding, the spread of parts far wider and the back office functions more sophisticated, the core of C.E. Motor Factors’ business hasn’t changed.

“We build relationships with customers and try to look after them as well as we can.”

“Dad’s amazed by how quickly the systems we have now work.”

The company has 95 per cent of the products it sells in stock and ready to go, and keeps up to date with new model launches to make sure that hard parts and consumables for the very latest cars are rapidly in stock.

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Premier Car Parts Premier Car Parts has served a largely rural community in Dungiven, County Derry since the beginning of the New Millennium, but also supplies components throughout the North West of Northern Ireland.

The business, which opened in 2001 is run by Paul Hone, who brings a lifetime’s experience of motor factoring to the job, having gone into the trade straight from school and remained in it ever since.

This was with C.E. Motor Factors, with which Premier is affiliated, and meant dealing with a more urban catchment he has now.

“We’re based in a farming community with lots of smaller garages,” explained Paul Hone.

“Many of them are one man bands, and for the most part we don’t deal with anybody large. We’re in a business that’s all about personal relationships.”

The list of brand names Premier Car Parts sells reads like a who’s who of automotive components, tools and consumables. Think Draper tools, Comma and Duckhams lubricants, Mahle filters, SKF, GEM oils, Kilen, Laser hand tools, Sachs shock absorbers, Sealey, Quinten Hazell, NGK spark plugs, GT exhausts, and car cleaning products from the likes of Wynn’s and AutoGlym.

The company ‘s trio of staff use the latest logistic and back office IT system to oversee some 2,500 part numbers, which have been massively expanded by the tie in with FG7, whose enormous warehouse stocks items that Premier might have wanted to carry but would have been harder to justify for a specialist factor with a defined market.

Part of that market is for farming equipment parts. This means stocking items that Paul Hone describes as ‘a bit unusual.’

“We keep filters for tractors that other motor factors probably wouldn’t sell. We have parts like tractor headlamps, heater plugs and specialist lubricants that are essential to our farming customers.”

The business has also developed a popular sideline in fault finding and re-charging air conditioning systems, something that has kept its knowledgeable and friendly staff busy during the summer months.

“A lot more cars have air conditioning these days,” said Paul Hone.

Motor sports fans also beat a path to Premier Car Parts’ door, as the business has an interesting sideline in things like competition-level lubricants, such as gear oils and lubricants for limited slip differentials.

This can partly be explained by Paul and his son Jordan being huge motor sports fans and enthusiastic competitors.

Jordan drives a Proton 1400S rally car, competing in the BTRDA rally series in the United Kingdom. His father Paul is proud of his son’s off tarmac car control skills, and knows them well, as he happens to be Jordan’s navigator, and the pair’s team work means that this year they are leading their class and could take outright victory.

Not only is this huge fun, but Paul Hone is aware of the image building and publicity benefits of their competition activities, but the bottom line has always been that Premier Car Parts offers first class customer service, and rapid access to quality components at affordable prices.

“It’s not just about making a profit,” he said.

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Carryduff Carryduff Auto Parts has been a fixture of Belfast since 1989.

This dynamic operation started as a motor factoring cottage industry, when Ian Scott opened for business more or less as a one man band, taking on a store manager and a van driver as sales picked up.

Initially operating from a facility with 2,000sq ft of warehousing space, the business re-located to its current location and a doubling of space in 2010. More recently that 4,000sq ft was increased to 6,000sq ft with the construction of a mezzanine floor.

Ian Scott, who came to the motor trade after a career in the civil service, made the observation that had he not switched careers “I would have retired ten years ago,” but he clearly has no regrets about this change of direction in his working life.

He has always had a passion for cars and motorcycles, something which came from working part time at his uncle’s garage when still a child. A job in the civil service meant abandoning the tools, but the automotive sector never lost its appeal.

“In the early 1980s after I’d left the civil service I found a job as a van driver for a motor factor and worked my way up,” he said. Ian Scott was employed as a parts store manager when the idea of striking out on his own as a motor factor switched from being a pleasant, abstract thought to practical reality.

These days Carryduff Auto Parts has a headcount of seven, including Ian’s son Peter, who has a similar passion to his father for the business and will in due course take it over.

The company was one of the first factors to embrace the FG7 concept, joining in 2009, and Ian Scott is clear why it made sense. The tie in provided previously unattainable economies of scale, and a hugely expanded parts offering. Having three daily parts deliveries from FG7 has proved to be a vital lifeline for many of Carryduff’s trade customers, who need parts correctly identified and rapidly dispatched to ensure efficient use of labour and workshop space.

These clients make up around 60 per cent of Carryduff’s customer base, and the FG7 link has allowed the company to use a near ‘just-in-time’ ordering system for fastselling hard parts, while retaining some slower selling, but useful parts in house that perhaps wouldn’t have been kept in stock beforehand.

Although trade clients are a vital part Carryduff’s customer base, counter sales from private motorists also form an important element of its activities, and all its clients are helped by its close-knit staff, many of whom have been with the company for at least a decade and a half. All bring great personal and technical skills to their jobs. These are aided by up-to-the-minute back office IT systems.

With Carryduff’s trio of vans constantly on the road delivering parts, Ian Scott can reflect on how the factoring sector has changed and become more demanding.

“It’s very simple,” he said. “If we don’t give customers what they want, there are plenty of suppliers who will.”

Colin Adams Motor Parts One of the original seven founders of FG7 and the current chairman, Colin started his career in the motor trade during 1981 with a local Ford dealership in Newtownards. Four years later a move into the largest motor factor in the area proved a great learning school with Jim Neil @ the helm, a true gentleman who many regarded as the `Daddy` of the factoring trade in Northern Ireland at the time .

Thirteen years later Colin & his wife Michele took the plunge and started their own parts business @ Mark Street in Newtownards, Michele`s father (Billy) was the only full time employee in the early days with help from Billy`s wife Belle with the accounts. The business blossomed in those early years and I often look back @ the help and experience gained from those early FG7 meetings often held @ RT Autoparts in Cookstown.

FG7 formed a limited company in the year 2000 primarily as a buying group with Varta as the first appointed supplier, with many industry leading suppliers and manufacturers following suit. The many long days were exciting with the venture in Newtownards flourishing and FG7 offering a bit of a change with regular meetings almost every Tuesday night. Looking back, the guys in FG7 were certainly my second learning in the motor trade, the diversity of the seven guys lead to many a laugh and a few heated debates.

Back to the now fast growing Ards branch and by 2002 the staff figure had hit the Ten mark, motor factoring was changing at a rapid pace with technology and electronics commanding far greater attention. Moving on with another Ten years passed and employing 28, it felt right to open a 2nd branch in Belfast on the site of a former Hyundai dealership beside Cyprus Avenue made famous by Van Morrison.

Jack McMillen heads up the Belfast operation with eight staff and four delivery vans, his staff have many years of mechanical, dealer and motor parts experience, a new addition to the site is the latest LED type sign beaming brightly in East Belfast – oh how the trade has changed!

The Ards branch is managed by Mark Clydesdale where he heads up a team of thirty staff, four of those are almost permanently employed with online sales were up to Six hundred parcels a week can be picked, packed and dispatched.

Outside of the FG7 supplier companies, Liqui-Moly oils & chemicals from Germany, Beta tools from Italy and Auto Finesse detailing products tend to be the biggest sellers. We have a dedicated phone room @ the Ards branch where we regularly receive 700 calls a day.

Often described as the most service driven business – modern motor factoring certainly needs the backup and support from an excellent team. I sincerely believe the man that delivers the parts is equally as important as the guy who hopefully picks the correct parts from the database. Twelve vans operate out of the Ards branch with many customers availing of eight drops per day, we also have a fully fitted out tools/demo van headed up by an experienced mechanic.

Colin & Michele would like to take this opportunity to thank Alison Campbell for leading the FG7 team at both warehouse sites since 2010, Alison is leaving to pursue a business venture away from the parts industry. In a business dominated by males, I have been fortunate to work with both my wife Michele and Alison in the motor trades parts industry. I also extend the thanks to all the staff & especially our many customers who have helped make our business the success it is today.

BOSAL AUTOMOTIVE AND INDUSTRIAL COMPONENTS LTD For over 30 years BOSAL has been committed to developing type approved products for the independent aftermarket.

Not only do our genuine replacement parts meet OE performance criteria, they are also guaranteed to fit right first time, last longer, enhance the fuel

efficiency of the vehicle through optimised back pressure and benefit the environment through cleaner emissions. Our strategy of introducing OE technology to the aftermarket has made our name synonymous with the highest standards of design and quality.

Exhaust Systems Bosal offers one of the widest range of exhaust products in Europe.

Each piece uses aluminised materials for enhanced durability and is guaranteed to perform to the same standards as the original product.

Catalytic Converters & DPFs Bosal manufacture catalytic converters for both petrol and diesel engine cars including those equipped with On Board Diagnostics (OBD).

Bosal also offer a comprehensive range of diesel particulate filters.

Accessories Sourcing mounting parts from the manufacturer that designs and makes the exhaust system is the only logical choice so Bosal also develops the installation hardware for its products.

Towbars & E-sets Bosal also offers an extensive range of quality towbars for the aftermarket.

Bosal Oris is today the largest manufacturer of towbars and the leading OE supplier to the Automotive Industry.

Cycle Carriers Bosal compact foldable cycle carriers are now in stock, easy to fit just put straight onto your towball and clamp in place, no tools required. With a choice of two or three bicycle options, suitable for electric bikes, with optional push on ramp, so no heavy lifting.

More Information www.bosal.co.uk www.bosal-towbars.co.uk

Sales Tel: 01772 771010 Email: sales.baic@eur.bosal.com

Technical support Tel: 0800 374710 Email: technical.baic@eur.bosal.com

JNK Components Ltd.

JNK In four decades of successful trading Ballymena’s J.N.K. Components has become one of Northern Ireland’s best known motor factors.

Founded by partners John Elliott, Neil O’Boyle and Kevin McNeill, the business was started as the result of this factoring trio’s wish to apply hard won vehicle parts industry skills to their own company, and thanks to a mix of flair and pragmatism it has prospered and developed through huge technological changes and some unprecedented economic and social developments.

Today the company employees some 33 staff, eight of whom have each been with it for over a quarter of a century.

“People seem to like working here and the staff turnover is low,” said Kevin McNeill, adding that he still enjoys coming to work, although the pace of the job, along with the pace of change in the factoring sector has sped up a lot since 1975.

“Computerisation has certainly come on a long way from when we started.

The systems we use now are essential given the amount of stock we carry, and they’re a world away from the catalogues we used to start with,” he said.

Kevin McNeill thinks that there has been an ‘explosion’ of parts numbers, which he describes as “truly amazing.”

“We used to make deliveries once or twice a week, now it’s two or three times a day,” he said.

Beyond the proliferation of cars and mechanical specifications, this has been driven by vehicle repairers carrying fewer components, because of the inevitable space and cost considerations, but also because they trust factors like J.N.K to be able to supply the parts they need quickly and efficiently.

“They just expect parts to be delivered on time,” said Kevin McNeill.

J.N.K. began life trading on William Street, moving in 1980 to the Pennybridge industrial estate where continued expansion has seen it increase warehouse space and upgrade both staff and customer areas. The bulk of its business comes from trade customers, but it also has a loyal retail following. The business has also carved a healthy niche in the commercial vehicle sector, running a bespoke service for owners of these vehicles and agricultural machinery operators.

The business also specialises in both vehicle and commercial paint, developing the in house expertise to deal with the complex legislative and practical elements that are particular to these markets.

Joining forces with FG7 has been a good fit for J.N.K. Components, giving the business access to a hugely expanded range of parts, and allowing it to offer some slower selling lines that it might have been reluctant to carry with the speed of having them on the shelf in its own warehouse.

JNK Components Ltd.

MOTOR FACTORS

Lagan Alan Graham’s Lagan Motor Factors has been established in Lisburn for more than 30 years, and now occupies a large warehouse and showroom in the city centre - a far cry from the trio of terraced houses where the company was originally founded.

Crossing the road from those houses to their current site on Bachelors Walk has enabled Lagan Motor Factors to expand their services and ensure customers are well served by well stocked warehousing.

That has been made easier with membership of the FG7 group, enabling Lagan Motor Factors to expand and grow the range of parts and accessories held in stock, with products from the most recognised automotive brands available every day.

There are more than just hard parts kept on site though, with service items being a major part of the business. A complete range of hard parts and fluids, from high quality brands such as Fram, NGK, Champion, Mobil and Castrol, include products such as brake components, air, oil and pollen filters, and spark plugs. There is everything a customer would need to maintain their vehicles in tip-top condition.

A complete range of tools, including timing belt kits, riveters and grinding tools, on top of the usual range of accessories you might expect from a leading facotr are also kept in store, as are a range of tools from brands such as Teng and Sealey.

The showroom also has space for a large range of cleaning and valet lines, as well as a selection of bodywork and paint products from Holts to facilitate minor repairs. It really is the one-stop shop for vehicle repairs and maintenance.

Having access to FG7’s immense buying power means that all of these products, and many more, are available at all times and at competitive prices.

“We stock a huge range of parts and accessories, including products from the car industry’s leading and most respected suppliers,” explains Alan Graham. “As a part of the FG7 group, we are able to offer them to customers at incredibly competitive prices”.

“Joining FG7 has enabled us to compete against the top opposition,” he continues, “as well as the dreaded internet!”

An investment in an online presence on arguably the world’s biggest retail space, eBay, has had a massive effect on the business as sales just keep growing. That’s not the only high-tech internet investment though, as Lagan’s profile on the ever popular Google Maps also includes a 360-degree tour of the showroom, something even mobile users will be able to take a look at.

It is still the daily personal contact that really makes Lagan Motor Factors stand out though, with a strong contingent of knowledgeable staff on board offering friendly advice and assistance. With access to FG7’s comprehensive parts catalogue, they can ensure that customers can be confident of getting the right part at the right price.

It is still the daily personal contact that really makes Lagan Motor Factors stand out though, with a strong contingent of knowledgeable staff on board offering friendly advice and assistance. With access to FG7’s comprehensive parts catalogue, they can ensure that customers can be confident of getting the right part at the right price.

Customer’s don’t even need to visit the showroom, with Lagan offering non-stop delivery services over the county with their fleet of vans, with same-day delivery of parts available thanks to the support of FG7.

The RYMEC range includes, clutch kits,solid flywheel kits, concentric slave cylinders and components, covering thousands of applications for European, Japanese and Asian vehicles.

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SKF Supplier Partner to the FG7 Group

P&R Wholesale Epitomising what it means to be a family business, P&R Wholesale has been run by the Goss family for thirty-five years. The company has grown ever since, with the original staff of two swelling to an impressive twelve employees today, including staff who have been with the company from the very beginning.

Growth has also seen P&R Wholesale expand into an adjacent building on Merchants Quay, where the staff provide parts support to both retail and trade customers.

Specialising in cars and light commercial vehicles, the stock levels required are significant, given the changes in the automotive industry over the last couple of years. Previously repairable items are now throwaway units, so the likes of radiators and starter motors need to be available for a wide range of models.

That’s where the three floors of storage across two buildings comes in very useful.

Joining the FG7 group has made a significant difference, with the availability of parts and rapid deliveries enabling P&R Wholesale to offer its customers the service levels they require.

“FG7 really helps us in the motor trade to compete against some of the big names of this world”, explains Raymond Goss. “Six years has seen the group move premises and grow, which benefits all of the group members. It certainly gives us an advantage over other local competitors”.

The growth continues within FG7, enabling P&R Wholesale to run four vans from its central Newry location, delivering to customers within a thirty-mile radius up to three times a day. That means an ordered part could be in a customer’s hands within the hour.

Those parts include the quality brand names that P&R has become recognised for, such as those provided by SKF and MAHLE, covering everything from filters and fuel systems to emissions and steering parts. For those on a tighter budget, a more value-oriented range of products is also available, priced to keep budget conscious customers happy.

It’s not just car parts though, as P&R Wholesale stocks a wide range of tools, accessories and even work wear, ordering components from the likes of Beta, Sealey and Ring Automotive. For those who need to keep their motors clean, a range of valeting products is also readily available.

With the backing of the FG7 group, parts not held in stock can be supplied the same day, thanks to the impressive stock levels and speedy deliveries to its partner businesses, enabling P&R Wholesale to offer its local customers the backup that they depend on in what is often a time critical business.

Never afraid to respond to changes in the industry, P&R Wholesale’s next investment will be into a more formal internet presence, but the long-term local presence and strong family ethic means that personal customer service will always remain at the forefront of the business’s approach.

FOR BRAKE CALIPERS

IT’S ALWAYS BEEN

BRAKE

ENGINEERING

THE FULL LINE BRAKING SUPPLIER

DISCS AND DRUMS

PADS AND SHOES

ORIGINAL AFTERMARKET SINCE 1981

HYDRAULICS

CALIPERS

www.brake-eng.com

BRAKE PADS

Chamfer for noise reduction Main friction material Underlayer for bonding enhancement & thermal/noise control

FROM ONE OF THE WORLD’S LEADING MANUFACTURERS

RUBBER COATING METAL BASE RUBBER COATING (textured)

Slotting to reduce stress and wear debris Rubber/metal/rubber clip on shim for noise control

Backplate with Adhesive coating spigot holes to enhance friction for mechanical material to back plate locking bonding

DESIGNED & MANUFACTURED FOR QUALITY

RMR SHIM

Reduces noise & eliminates squeal

MILLIONS OF SETS SOLD WORLDWIDE

ALLIED NIPPON STOPS EVERYTHING FROM A SMART CAR TO A 44-TONNE TRUCK!

Official Allied Nippon Stockist geared for the future

PartsDoc The team behind PartsDoc have around 100 years of combined experience of motorfacting between them, with a successful car accessory store in Comber, Newtownards. This has been open for twenty years, but a desire to build something bigger hast led to PartsDoc arriving in Coleraine.

While the Comber store still serves retail customers with its staff of four, the new site had to be somewhere larger, and with strong industrial facilities. That led to the new warehouse in Coleraine, where the unit and parts counter are looked after by Clive Jardine and a growing staff of 16, including his father Alan who brings with him a lifetime of motor trade experience.

At the parts counter customers will find a range of parts to cover almost every eventuality, including the proliferation of more complex items that go with today’s far more complex motors. In a world where the trend is to replace rather than repair, that means a huge array of parts must be held in stock, so it’s fortunate that Clive had the foresight to purchase an enormous warehouse, covering some 22,000 square feet.

It’s not just the hard parts that make up the business though, with PartsDoc stocking an array of quality tools from the likes of Draper, Sealey and Teng, amongst others, as well as ensuring there’s always plenty of brand name lubricants available.

For those customers more interested in detailing cars rather than fixing and repairing them, car care materials are stocked from top brands as Autoglym, Meguiars, RainX, Simoniz and many more.

Trade buyers will be happy that there are four vans delivering to customers as far as thirty miles around Coleraine, up to three times a day, covering Northern Ireland as far as Lough Neagh to the south, as well as a large coastal area.

The latest technology has also been embraced, thanks in part to booming internet sales, while potential visitors can even use Google Street View to take a look inside the trade and retail counter at the PartsDoc warehouse.

It was joining FG7 that really kick started business, with PartsDoc growing by around 20 per cent since affiliating itself with the group. The huge amount of stock held in their central warehouse, along with rapid deliveries, means that PartsDoc can support their customers with a same day, and often same hour, service “Being FG7 member has directly increased our turnover thanks to the advantage of big buying power,” said Clive Jardine. “That and the availability of parts.”

“It’s also great that we can now deal with just one supplier, rather than negotiating rates with countless smaller suppliers. It makes our lives simpler, and knowing that FG7 is negotiating with manufacturers on our behalf means our prices can be keener.”

As continuous, rapid access to more competitive pricing and reliable stock filters through to PartsDoc’s customers, Clive Jardine and his staff hope that an even bigger building will be required in the future.

Comfort and performance

Leading the way

Car clutches and shocks from SACHS Sometimes we have to use unconventional methods to develop the best possible solutions. SACHS engineers are never content with purely theoretical tests, we subject our clutches and shock absorbers to the brutal punishment of the real world — where guaranteed durability and performance are essential. By doing this we develop products of the highest quality and reliability. We offer you O.E. products, backed up with the best customer service when you need them the most.

www.zf.com/uk

Colin Adams Motorparts Newtownards Branch 51a Mark Street Newtownards, BT23 4DT 028 9181 3035 www.motorpartsni.co.uk Belfast Branch: 441a Beersbridge Road Belfast BT5 5DU 02890671444 www.motorpartsni.co.uk Autoparts Direct 575 Falls Rd Belfast BT11 9AB BT11 9AB Tel: 028 90 30 9060 Fax: 028 90 30 9130 www.autoparts-direct.org A & R Autoparts Ledcom Industrial Estate Bank Rd, Larne BT40 3AW 02828273485 nam1@sky.com Autobits 27 Cathedral Rd Armagh BT61 7QX 02837526088 nfo@autobits.eu

Ballynahinch Motor Factors 14 Windmill Lane Ballynahinch Co. Down BT24 8EU Tel: 028 9756 3935 www.ballynahinchmotorfactors.com Carryduff Auto Parts Unit E Carryduff Business Park Comber Road, Belfast BT8 8AN 028 9081 4048 carryduff.capc@autonetplus.co.uk www.carryduffautoparts.uktc.com CE Motor Factors 65 Catherine St Limavady BT49 9DA 02877722868 cathal@cemotorfactors.co.uk.

CG Motor Factors 14 Malcolm Rd Lurgan County Armagh BT66 8DF 02838341424 bmr37c@hotmail.co.uk JNK Components Ltd 25 Pennybridge Industrial Estate BALLYMENA BT42 3HB Northern Ireland Tel: 028 2564 8111 ray@jnkcomponents.co.uk www.jnkcomponents.co.uk

Lagan Motor Factors 45-47 Bachelors Walk, Lisburn BT28 1XN 02892675360/02892607378 info@laganmotorfactors.co.uk www.laganmotorfactors.co.uk Motor & Commercial Parts 3 Ranfurly Road Dungannon BT71 6ED 028 8775 2155 info@motorpartsdungannon.co.uk www.motorpartsdungannon.co.uk M&L Autoparts 67 Gortin Road Omagh BT79 7HT 02882245222 www.mlautoparts.co.uk One Stop Motor Shop Roe House Dry Arch Business Park Letterkenny Co. Donegal 00353 (0)749128522 Sligo 02870357672 www.onestopmotorshop.ie onestopms@eircom.net Alec Orr Motor Factors 26-27 Marlborough Terrace Londonderry BT48 9AT 028 7126 7765 www.alexorrmotorfactors.co.uk

Premier Car Parts 364 Foreglen Road Dungiven Co. Derry BT47 4PL 028 7774 1501 info@premiercarpartsni.com www.premiercarpartsni.com PartsDoc 9 Loguestown Industrial Estate Coleraine County Londonderry BT52 2NS 02870357672 Fax 02870 321764 info@partsdoc.co.uk www.partsdoc.co.uk P&R Wholseale 6-7 Merchants Quay Newry BT35 6AL Co Down 028 3026 2773 
info@prwholesale.co.uk RT Autoparts Morgans Hill Rd Cookstown, County Tyrone BT80 8HA 028 8676 5055 028 8676 5760 info@rtautoparts.co.uk www.rtautoparts.co.uk

motorshop

MOTOR FACTORS

autoparts Keeping Wheels In Motion

JNK Components Ltd.

FG7 Limited, 45 Ruskey Road, Coagh, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone BT80 0AH. Tel: 028 8676 9887 Fax: 028 8673 7088 Email: info@fg7.co.uk www.fg7.co.uk