Belron

Belron is a vehicle glass repair and replacement group operating worldwide across 34 countries[1] and employing over 25,000 people. Headquartered in Egham, Surrey, United Kingdom,[2] Belron's brands include Autoglass and Autoglass bodyrepair in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, and Poland, Carglass in most of Europe, Safelite in the United States, O'Brien in Australia, Smith & Smith in New Zealand, and Lebeau and Speedy Glass in Canada.

Belron
IndustryVehicle glass repair
FoundedCape Town, South Africa (1897)
FoundersJacobs & Dandor
Headquarters
Egham, Surrey
,
United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Carlos Brito (CEO)
OwnerD'Ieteren
Number of employees
27,000
Websitebelron.com

Operations

Belron brands repair and replace damaged vehicle glass. In many countries, Belron brands are able to repair and replace a customer’s windscreen 24-hours-a-day through branch-based and mobile services.

History

Belron was first founded as a family business in 1897 as Jacobs & Dandor in Cape Town, South Africa. The company was purchased and renamed Plate Glass Bevelling and Silvering in 1899. In 1917, City Glass Bevelling & Silvering Works bought Plate Glass; the companies were merged in 1919 and went ahead to gain success in the windscreen industry by securing the business rights to the curved windscreen production technology in 1953 and introducing laminated rear windows in 1958.

The company began its international expansion in 1971, starting with the acquisition of O’Brien in Australia.

A branch of Autoglass in Omagh, Northern Ireland.

International expansion continued with the acquisition of UK companies Autoglass and Windshields, which merged as Autoglass Windshields in 1983.

In 1990, international acquisitions were grouped together under the name Belron.

2007 Belron acquires US market leader Safelite.

Gary Lubner was named CEO of Belron in 2000;[3] both his father and grandfather had also led the business.[4][5]

In 2015, Belron (94.85% owned by D'Ieteren) had some 2,400 branches and 10,000 mobile vans, trading under ten major brands including Carglass and Safelite, serving customers in 33 countries. Revenues in 2015 were €3.1 billion.[6]

References
  1. "Our Franchisees", Belron. Retrieved 10 February 2017
  2. https://www.belron.com/workingforus/belroninternational/ "Belron International"
  3. Candice Krieger (May 12, 2011). "The Windscreen Repair Boss Who Has Cracked It". TheJC.com.
  4. "Bertie Lubner Passes Away", April 18, 2016, Jenna Reed, GlassBytes.com
  5. "Power 100 2013: Gary Lubner", Jeremy Kuper, June 4, 2013, "The South African"
  6. "Financial Information". D'Ieteren. 2015-02-04. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
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