Nationwide Autocentres has paid £4m for Lex Services' 96 Autocentres, just over a year after acquiring 41 sites from the motoring solutions company. Lex has now withdrawn from the repair sector.

Tom Dunn, Nationwide managing director and a former operations director at Lex, has ambitious plans to further grow the £40m turnover business, which now stands at 142 outlets.

“We first need to consolidate and turnaround the Lex outlets, which lost £2m last year, then we will be looking to grow beyond 200 centres to give us real national coverage,” he says.

“This will enable us to satisfy the needs of all the large national fleets as well as local businesses and private customers.”

For more details on Nationwide's plans, look out for the April 26 issue of AM .