Unipart Car Care Centre Program

Newport based Fast Parts Wales Ltd is a leading automotive parts and accessories supplier in South Wales. The business has been investing heavily to develop with the addition of new staff, new sites, products and services which are designed to support the local independent garages and keep South Wales’ motorists moving. The business has been servicing garages in Abercarn and Cwmbran for over 25 years and has recently opened another site in Tredegar.

Staff and customers are recognised as the two most important parts of Fast Parts business. They work together as a team to ensure a motorist’s needs are met. Fast Parts General Manager, Nathan Travis, added: “We’re evolving as a business and want to engage with customers more than ever before. We’re investing heavily in our website and making ourselves as accessible as possible on numerous fronts including social media, in a bid to be a ‘hub’ for everything ‘motoring’ in South Wales. From a trade perspective, we’ve taken the role of a motor factor and totally redefined what it means, ensuring we add value in areas such as technical support and training whenever possible.”

To further enhance the Fast Parts proposition Travis engaged with Unipart Autoparts to offer his customer base support to drive their business forward, to become a partner rather than just a parts supplier. Unipart Autoparts recognised how Nathans vision sat beside its proposition and engaged straight away. The Unipart brand carries a 40 year heritage and is recognised as a ‘Genuine Alternative’ to original equipment within the UK aftermarket. The brand is supported by the first and still the best garage management system, ‘KiS’, which allows local garages to obtain prices and order product direct from Fast Parts. The management system will also allow the local owners to run their business, from quote to invoice, job card to technical data and even carries an online MOT booking facility.

The Unipart Car Care Centre program allows Nathan and his team to engage and partner with the local independents. As well as providing a National Image the program offers its network much needed marketing support, work direction and fleetwork. It also leverages its national buying power by offering money saving schemes from insurance, to website builds through to workwear. Prior to the investment, Unipart Autoparts made it quite clear that it would not supply any product until a sales plan had been written and agreed. This included a review of potential customers for the brand which engaged the sales teams and the engagement of the current Unipart Car Care Centres and KiS users. The team was trained on the proposition and Unipart Sales Managers engaged in workouts with the team to visit all potential and existing users. On day one Branch Manager Steve Parry and Unipart Sales Manager Sheryl License signed Fast Parts first brand new Unipart Car Care Centre. Ian Howells of Forge Garage Cwmbran (pictured right), another forward thinking business, saw the benefit of belonging to a National program that would enable his business to stay independent. At the forefront is growth but in Ian’s case he was looking to raise his profile through utilising the benefits of the program.

Cwmbran Manager Steve Parry (also pictured right) has further developed relationships with the existing Car Care Centre base and is enjoying the benefit of new sales. By following the initial sales plan and with the support of Unipart personnel, Steve has seen his customer base grow and is continuing to look at how he can win additional customers from his competition. Being proactive, Steve has now started to use Unipart’s Brookstone range to sell on Friday specials! This is all new, incremental business and as Steve states “It is the icing on the cake.”



 Cwmbran Manager Steve Parry & Ian Howells of Forge Garage Cwmbran