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Old 28th August 2014, 09:06   #1
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Default Unipart has gone into Administration.

I have just read that Unipart have gone into Administration. Apparently, three companies are taking over some of their shops, including Euro Car Parts, who have acquired 27 branches and 100 of the 1200 people being made redundant. This follows the recent collapse of Quinton Hazel and leaves me wondering how secure X-Part is in these difficult times.

Having worked in the 'Dealer/Distributor' parts network of BMC, BL, etc., between 1964 and 2000, I have a great respect for Unipart. In 1964 the 'group' was BMC, which included MG, Austin, Morris, Wolseley, Riley and Vanden Plas; there was no Triumph, Jaguar, or Rover connection, other than Pressed Steel who made their body shells and who came under the BMC umbrella around that time.

All parts had to be purchased through BMC, as part of the 'dealer' franchise agreement. These parts were sometimes packaged as BMC items, but often they were Lockheed, Girling, Borg & Beck, etc., packaged items with a BMC part number sticker on the box. The very same items could be bought from the various factors at much better discounts than was available via BMC. Obviously, many dealers bought what were termed 'spurious' parts from outside the BMC network, which gave them a better discount, but were still of OE quality, which was often passed on to the various 'garage' customers, however, this could find the dealer defaulting on his 'dealer' agreement, with the loss of the franchise.

Things came to a head when BMC tried to challenge the dealer network, but they met with a strong objection and to cut a long story short, they brought out a range called Unipart. Initially, the parts were repackaged items in black, white and brown boxes, and only for BMC vehicles, but above all, the discounts were on par with the same genuine parts from the factors. Sometime later, in the early days of BL, the range was enlarged to 'All Makes', with new packaging, now the familiar red, white and blue; all this was supported by heavy advertising campaigns. Eventually, the very large Unipart company was sold off to the directors, whose baby it was and although now an independent company, they still supplied all the parts for BL/Austin Rover. However, in the last throws of BMW/MGR, Unipart lost the parts contract to Caterpillar/X-part.

A sad loss I think.

Roverite.
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Old 28th August 2014, 09:13   #2
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Sorry to see them go under, I believe that they have been struggling along for some time.
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Old 28th August 2014, 09:37   #3
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Tis a real shame. I had worked there for just about 3 years. I left in february this year due to the uncertain future of the place.

From the outside, it seemed strong... But seeing what went on inside, it was very evident that there were serious financial issues. the managers and directors kept telling us that everything would be ok though. and every week the story was... 'Just one more week' and we'll be sorted.

a handful of branches have been saved, along with the jobs. Im not sure about ECP buying any branches, but Andrew Page have bought around 20 of them.
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Old 28th August 2014, 10:05   #4
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First reported a month back http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...d.php?t=190395

c'est la vie

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Old 28th August 2014, 10:10   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roverite View Post
I have just read that Unipart have gone into Administration. Apparently, three companies are taking over some of their shops, including Euro Car Parts, who have acquired 27 branches and 100 of the 1200 people being made redundant. This follows the recent collapse of Quinton Hazel and leaves me wondering how secure X-Part is in these difficult times.

Having worked in the 'Dealer/Distributor' parts network of BMC, BL, etc., between 1964 and 2000, I have a great respect for Unipart. In 1964 the 'group' was BMC, which included MG, Austin, Morris, Wolseley, Riley and Vanden Plas; there was no Triumph, Jaguar, or Rover connection, other than Pressed Steel who made their body shells and who came under the BMC umbrella around that time.

All parts had to be purchased through BMC, as part of the 'dealer' franchise agreement. These parts were sometimes packaged as BMC items, but often they were Lockheed, Girling, Borg & Beck, etc., packaged items with a BMC part number sticker on the box. The very same items could be bought from the various factors at much better discounts than was available via BMC. Obviously, many dealers bought what were termed 'spurious' parts from outside the BMC network, which gave them a better discount, but were still of OE quality, which was often passed on to the various 'garage' customers, however, this could find the dealer defaulting on his 'dealer' agreement, with the loss of the franchise.

Things came to a head when BMC tried to challenge the dealer network, but they met with a strong objection and to cut a long story short, they brought out a range called Unipart. Initially, the parts were repackaged items in black, white and brown boxes, and only for BMC vehicles, but above all, the discounts were on par with the same genuine parts from the factors. Sometime later, in the early days of BL, the range was enlarged to 'All Makes', with new packaging, now the familiar red, white and blue; all this was supported by heavy advertising campaigns. Eventually, the very large Unipart company was sold off to the directors, whose baby it was and although now an independent company, they still supplied all the parts for BL/Austin Rover. However, in the last throws of BMW/MGR, Unipart lost the parts contract to Caterpillar/X-part.

A sad loss I think.

Roverite.

Worries me too Colin. We are already having difficulty getting parts for our cars simply to get them through their annual MOT. If X-Part chuck the towel in we are going to be in serious trouble me thinks.
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Old 28th August 2014, 10:48   #6
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I reckon that during the mid-90s, under BMW ownership, Rover Group tried to reacquire Unipart Automotive, but their managers would have none of it.
This led to the BMW decision to sever ties with Unipart as soon as possible, which effectively was separated from Rover Group in 1987 but retained exclusive rights to parts distribution for the group up to 2002. This ended with the formation of Xpart within MGR Group in 2002, which was then sold out to Caterpillar (now Neovia Logistics) in 2004.

So there is effectively no connection at all between XPart and Unipart, and while Unipart goes into administration, the situation with XPart is very much different. Considering the number of MGR cars still on the road, XPart has constantly renewed their will to continue to support our cars "while there is a demand and that business is economically viable"...which it obviously is for the moment.
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Old 28th August 2014, 11:56   #7
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The car parts market is incredibly competitive - I think if Unipart had a better online shopping system and really pushed that side of the business then they may have had a chance.
Unfortunately their online shopping system was rather slow and buggy, with unclear layouts. A shame, as an online presence really can make or break a big business.
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Old 29th August 2014, 14:42   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scoubix View Post

Considering the number of MGR cars still on the road, XPart has constantly renewed their will to continue to support our cars "while there is a demand and that business is economically viable"...which it obviously is for the moment.
That is true and we were lucky that X-part were in a position to carry on after the collapse of MGR. However, and as you hint at here, how long is that going to carry on? When they were supplying prior to the collapse, they had our retail business, but also much of the MGR factory production and dealership business for those new cars. As it is almost 10 years since production ceased, they are relying totally on our retail business. There are still a lot of R40s around, but many more have been scrapped and this scrappage is rapidly increasing as the cars lose their value and repairs become uneconomical. With the greatest respect to X-part, I don't think they are R40 fanatics; they are business people and their focus is on profit for the shareholders.

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Old 29th August 2014, 14:45   #9
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As the numbers of our cars remaining drops, I'll be looking to have impossible-to-get parts made up from scratch (when they're NLA) and will hopefully still be operating as I am now even when the numbers starts to really dwindle.

My current business plan (based on the projected number of our cars left, how I've projected that into the future and how many customers I've had) extends to around 8 years from now, but given I can still get most parts for the Allegro and Maxi from my main suppliers, we have no worries yet.
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Old 29th August 2014, 14:55   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DMGRS View Post
As the numbers of our cars remaining drops, I'll be looking to have impossible-to-get parts made up from scratch (when they're NLA) and will hopefully still be operating as I am now even when the numbers starts to really dwindle.

My current business plan (based on the projected number of our cars left, how I've projected that into the future and how many customers I've had) extends to around 8 years from now, but given I can still get most parts for the Allegro and Maxi from my main suppliers, we have no worries yet.
Do you plan to look to start competing with the parts that are basically monopolised at the mlment? Cdt intercoolers and rear upper arms for instance. I require neither now but they are 2 common parts (well soon to be) and 2nd hand parts won't sustain for too much longer due to the nature of them, they're available new from one source in the uk as far as i am aware...
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