ING Car Lease had signed a contract with Auto Windscreens in August, 2010, for its 50-000- strong car and commercial fleet.

But Alan Lilley, head of technical services at ING Car Lease, said: “Due to declining service levels, we had already begun to divert jobs from Auto Windscreens to our secondary suppliers Nationwide Windscreen Services and AA AutoWindshields.

“As such, while a small minority of customers have been affected, the vast majority will see little impact.”

The story was the same for Alphabet, which had signed a two-year sole supplier contract with Auto Windscreens in February, 2010.

Director Mark Sinclair said: “Due to Alphabet’s policy of maintaining strong relationships with more than one provider an alternative supplier was in place by 9am the following morning.”

Auto Windscreens was number two in the UK replacement windscreen and repair market, operating a network of 68 fitting centres, 550 mobile units, with a distribution centre in Birmingham and its headquarters in Chesterfield.

It employed around 1,100 staff and had an annual turnover of around £63m.

However, sources told Fleet News the company had endured losses totalling £60 million over a five year period up until December 2009. Accounts after that date have not been filed.

Deloitte says the company was in the process of changing the business model to deliver “significant operational efficiencies”.

More follows on page three...