Car repair shop chain steers path towards £400m auction | BusinessNews Zainal Abidin, 09/12/2025 One of Britain’s biggest chains of car repair shops is gearing up for a sale that could value it at around £400m.Sky News has learned that Steer Automotive Group has appointed City advisers to sound out prospective buyers.Sources said on Friday that a formal process was not yet under way, although initial discussions were being held with interested parties.Steer Automotive Group trades from 98 sites across the UK, and employs more than 2,500 people.Its customers include the major insurance companies Admiral, Allianz, LV and NFU Mutual.The company says it repairs more than 100,000 passenger, luxury and commercial vehicles annually.It counts the carmakers Aston Martin, Jaguar Land Rover and Tesla among its manufacturer approvals and recommendations.Mr Steer launched the company from a single site in Aylesbury in 2018 and has grown it impressively, according to industry insiders.He secured investment from Chiltern Capital and Keyhaven Capital in 2021 at an undisclosed valuation.Read more business news:‘Concern’ for retailers ahead of ChristmasWine growers destroy cargoes of cava and roseOne private equity figure who has been approaching about the process said he understood that Mr Steer was likely to remain heavily invested in… Continue Reading
‘Right to Repair’ approved by Maine voters on Question 4 Zainal Abidin, 22/08/202522/08/2025 The “yes” vote leveled the field so local and small-business mechanics could have access to data that would be restricted to dealerships.MAINE, USA — Maine voters decided “yes” to Question 4, allowing local repair shops and mechanics access to the same data as dealerships.Maine is the sixth state in the US to approve such a measure, likely indicating the start of a wave of support behind similar initiatives.Question 4, a citizen initiative, read as follows on the Maine ballot:Do you want to require vehicle manufacturers to standardize on-board diagnostic systems and provide remote access to those systems and mechanical data to owners and independent repair facilities?A “yes” vote allows all mechanical information about a vehicle to be made available beyond dealerships regarding things like being able to diagnose and repair vehicles along with regular maintenance issues.“By voting yes on Question 4, Mainers have now joined Massachusetts in a growing national movement to update automotive Right to Repair laws for the modern age of connected cars,” Tommy Hickey, director of the Maine Automotive Right to Repair Committee, said Tuesday in a statement. “Automakers are trying to monopolize the market on car and truck repairs but… Continue Reading