Just Car Clinics Share Discussion Threads

[liarspoker] 11/12/2011 14:46

It's great not having a live share price. This is what true investing is all about. :O)

[harrogate] 11/12/2011 13:35

Hi. Please keep posting ..as you say it may not be listed but we are still shareholders. Whatever the recent weather it is nothing to what we had from late Nov through to Xmas last year so volumes will be down for sure on a LFL basis. Bit weird not having a share price to look at but given NARS profit warning and weather maybe it is a good thing.

[aleman] 09/12/2011 23:49

That's not it for this one at all. The company still trades, without having the expense a listing now which will help slim margins - and it expects to continue to pay a progressive dividend. We've only just banked this year's.

Local TV news says there has been a spate of minor accidents in Bradford and Kirklees on snow and ice after they didn't keep gritters out this morning. Bradford Council said snow and rain had washed previous salt away then froze again and accidents on black ice blocked roads for the morning rush hour. I can confirm there was snow but little grit on roads in the Wibsey and Odsal areas of Bradford at lunchtime. They really do not seem to learn.


Number of vacancies has jumped. Don't know if that's good or bad.

[bookbroker] 09/12/2011 20:28

Surprised that anyone bothered to discuss this thread as they are no longer a traded equity, time the thread was discontinued, are car repair workshops really an interesting topic of conversation, that's it for this one, so concentrate on NARS!

[aleman] 09/12/2011 17:03

Traffic on my usual run was quiet again last night but most JCR workshops will be busy now with the weather. Been sleet and snow all day around the Pennines. Traffic had problems around Bradford this morning and the snow line is around 800 feet after thawing back slightly through the day. There was an accident on the M62 but I can't say if that was weather-related. Much of the salt has been washed away so it looks tricky this evening as it's already dropped from 5C to 0C in the last 3 hours (making tonights forecast of -3C look conservative) and the roads are very wet.

[aleman] 05/12/2011 00:11

Did my usual motorway run this week. It was very quiet.

Winter weather has started. Snow on pennines. Bit of sleet lower down this afternoon. Feezing rain tonight - precipitation falling as rain and freezing on various surfaces such as cars, bins and walls. Road seemed okay but I put a little salt down anyway as gritter had missed our bit.

[liarspoker] 25/11/2011 11:29

Hi Aleman - I'dappreciate your opinion on Munich Re as an income stock.

Could you reply on my Munich Re thread please:



Thanks and sorry for O/T to everyone.

Liars

[yorkshiret] 24/11/2011 16:33

From the ABP Website

Nationwide - full details of site closures

Following the trading update issued to the City by Nationwide on Tuesday morning – see ABP news story of 22 November – further details have now emerged.

Nationwide has confirmed that a total of 8 sites are set to close, four sites were told on Friday and four sites informed on Wednesday:

Chatham
Lincoln
Llandudno
Matlock
Sale
Stourport
Stratford
Wednesbury

The staff affected are working through a consultation period with Nationwide trying to reemploy people in other areas of the business where positions are available.

In particular they are trying to allow the affected apprentices to finish their training with the company.

This reorganisation will still leave Nationwide with 62 sites and no further site closures are expected in the foreseeable future.

Their reorganisation will cost them £1.6m in cash this year, but will give on-going savings of £1.9m a year.

Nationwide expect to end the year with net cash of £4.5m and no debt.

[aleman] 22/11/2011 12:13

It's certainly been very mild down South. Less so up here with a few chilly nights and the moist southerly air has been causing a lot of mist and fog, giving wet roads. Traffic last week was light again, though, and the pub quiz last week was dead after being rammed the week before. It may take a few weeks to see what the Christmas effect is this year. Nice 8% yield on NARS shares now and looking safe for the time being.

The national average petrol price has hardly budged from peak, at 133p+, but locally the supermarkets sell at 128.9p and are doing 5p off petrol vouchers. Not drawing any conclusion from this, just commenting. I'm certainly not driving as if it's got cheaper.

[taylor20] 22/11/2011 08:33

NARS feeling the pain as well (Or at least admitting to it!). Have to admit I didn't really get that impression from the interims.

[yorkshiret] 16/11/2011 14:15

RM, there has been some minor success behind the scenes (or visible to those of us in the industry), although not as much as I had expected. There will have also been unquantifiable benefits of these groups working together as well (best practice, shared resource etc).

This press release came out yesterday:



and there is a note on the ABP Website that says:

National Accident Repair Group has been appointed the repair network of choice for this new initiative.

Malcolm Banner, National's Commercial Director confirmed that he is pleased National has been appointed for iAccident saying, "we wish the new venture every success with this initiative. The product is intended to assist consumers directly and looks to deal with their needs in an ethical fashion."

------
Incidentally, you may be interested in the following article which gives a flavour of Nationwide's strategy:

[rmillaree] 16/11/2011 13:25

Some new press for NARG (JCR are a member)


It does seem that publicity wise at least NARG (or is it national ARG now?)has been a dead duck since its inception, that's not to say it hasn't been a success behind the scenes.

[aleman] 16/11/2011 11:22

Welcome aboard.

I got caught in jammed traffic again on the motorway on Friday around 3:00. I don't usually travel at that time so can't say if it was normal or not but it left me with the feeling that we could do with another recession. I've enjoyed the lack of jams for a couple of years, even if cost a bit more in petrol, but that period seems to be passing. (Will know better after Christmas.)

There is no sign of a second economic downturn locally. Local high street shops are busy with a couple of new ones opened. I even called in the estate agents because they had so many sold signs in the window and I've noticed on my travels there are only a few left for sale and a couple of new ones sold straight away recently. THey said it had been a busy autumn and the selling period hadn't wound down for Christmas like it normally would. Although the national picture is still subdued, the last RICS report had a record week for an agent in Wetherby which isn't far away and I understand Harrogate is supposed to be active. Housing in JCR's area has picked up in pockets. That doesn't necessarily mean there will be any benefit to car repairs but it beats housing news getting worse.

[liarspoker] 16/11/2011 11:05

Hi Aleman - no I didn't. As it ended up I am only in here with a very small, but hopefully rewarding, holding.

[aleman] 10/11/2011 13:22

The biggest car insurance premium increases since records began appear to have ended, according to the latest AA British Insurance Premium Index.

The broker's benchmark Shoparound index fell by 0.3% (just £2) to £921 over the three months ending 30 September.

At the end of March 2011, premiums had risen by over 40% over the previous 12 months. The annual rise has now dropped to 16% for the 12 months ending September, giving hope that the worst of the price hikes are over

[aleman] 10/11/2011 13:19

Did you get the holding you were looking for, LP?

[liarspoker] 10/11/2011 11:29

I see Admiral is facing higher claims.

They are on our list:

Draw your own conclusions. :O)

[yorkshiret] 08/11/2011 10:01

I'm not sure whether smaller cars will lead to less money spent on repairs. This trend has been going on a while now, as people look to better fuel efficiency. In reality, the small car of today (Polo) is bigger than the family car of the 80's/90's (I occasionally see the old VW Golf on the road and it looks tiny). And probably safer too!

The chances are, as people do shorter journeys / slower speeds, the bumps are less severe, and therefore the damage becomes repairable rather than being written off.

From my perspective, one of the major issues at the moment is that us Brits have become more continental in the treatment of our cars - people are now prepared to drive around with damage on them. And the high price of insurance, coupled with high excesses means that people are afraid to claim, with some paying for a cheap repair out of their own pocket. This affects all the shops who have built their business model on insurance work and have tucked themselves away on trading estates.

In the absence of future trading statements, please feel free to drop me an e-mail to [e-mail] with any questions and I'll try to help.

[aleman] 07/11/2011 23:29

New car sales rose in October. (WHen does this second recession start?) Small car sales rose coniderably. Presumably miles driven will increase once more fuel efficient cars hit the roads but will smaller cars mean less money spent on repairs, negating the benefit to JCR?

[harrogate] 07/11/2011 18:52

We will. I don't think that JCR will live or die by the petrol price. They have cut costs by £1.5m and I am sure they will do more. I saw from RBS insurance that motor polices with them had dropped by 15% ..given the large slice of JCR business that is why they have underperformed the market compared to say NARS who have has static volumes. If RBS do badly then JCR can't get the volume. If they win a good slug of the new RBS contract and get another chunk from somewhere the profit turnround could be swift.

[microscope] 07/11/2011 17:33

Good Luck all, keep us posted!

[aleman] 07/11/2011 17:31

Well, it's a first for me. Will have to remember to keep checking the website for news.

I notice petrol locally has dropped to 128.9p and the traffic last week on my usual run was a bit busier. Apparently shops locally have been heaving but it is only anecdotal (although there has been a surge in local house sales as well). Car insurance rates are supposed to be creeping down now, as well, but I'm not expecting an RNSs if we're trading ahead of expectations!