Peter lawton's blog

Huge congratulations from everyone at CAT to Joe Elliot for his inclusion in the New Year’s Honours List.

Although it wasn’t for services to retailing, we’re delighted that Joe has been recognised for his efforts in another walk of life.

BM Catalysts has been shortlisted in the Family Business of the Year category of the Midlands Family Business Awards 2013. The company, which employs up to 300 staff, has been nominated for continuing development, success, commitment to innovation and excellent governance.

Vans touring the country with tasty treats and information on braking seem all the rage at the moment.

The Delphi Take-a-Brake tour did the rounds in a converted pasty wagon, and now Mintex is touring the country with its dedicated vans.

I really like the idea of the Dakar rally. The vast distances might not make the best motorsport spectacle on the box, but I like the idea of the logistics and navigation, of man/woman and machine racing across the desert, keeping themselves going and battling the savage elements.

Now that Klarius has entered into administration, the grapevine is alight with all of the possible consolidations and purchases, however.

Since Klarius sold QH Netherlands to Sator Holdings last September, it is actually vicariously connected to Unipart through H2 Equity.

There’s no news on Unipart buying QH for the moment, however, or, for that matter Tetrosyl or FPS moving in for the brand.

There are some nice big, and small, facts and figures to consider when you think about Corteco and look into the history of its parent company, Freudenberg.

Fantastic. On the eve of my first visit to the gargantuan Automechanika show in Frankfurt, Lufthansa cabin crew have decided to go on strike. And, of course, I'm flying Lufthansa.

[caption id="attachment_8647" align="alignright" width="150" caption="60 drivers, one track, and one need for speed"][/caption]

The aftermarket had a huge amount of fun at the second CAT karting event last night.

Sixty of the finest aftermarket drivers descended on Daytona in Milton Keynes to do battle on the outdoor track.

Great news to hear that the service, maintenance and repair industry has increased in value to nearly £9 billion in 2011.

That figure excludes the value of MOTs, too, so the pickings are even more rich than this total suggests.

That's quite a reaction to the news that Andrew Page has bought Camberley Auto Factors.

The key member of the Parts Alliance was 'snapped up' today in a move which instantly gives Andrew Page a significant presence in the south.

One factor said: "They're coming, are they? Oh God, it's going to be a hell of a fight! It's a call to action I suppose, we'd better get ready."

I put 'snapped up' in inverted commas since deals like this aren't done on a whim, of course. It's tempting to think that the groundwork might have taken almost a year since Duncan Wilkes has also today been announced as Andrew Page's new non-executive Chairman. Wilkes' departure as the boss of the Halfords Nationwide Autocentre chain was signalled last August.