Steer Automotive is the fasting growing network of B2B specialist vehicle repair centres in the UK. At the time of our investment, the business had nine accident repair centres, delivering over 12,000 repairs per year for its insurance, accident management and dealership clients and had approvals with major brands including Porsche, JLR, Ford and Nissan.
Chiltern’s investment was used to support the highly experienced management team of Richard Steer (CEO) and Gavin Ruddick (COO) in accelerating the business’s organic and acquisition led growth plans, executing a rapid buy + build journey.
“I am very pleased to have the support of Alex, Alistair and the team from Chiltern. From the outset, it was clear that they understood our business and sector and were the right partner to help us achieve our ongoing growth plans and we now look forward to working alongside them to deliver our vision for Steer Automotive.”
Richard Steer, Steer Automotive CEO
During our investment period, Steer Automotive successfully acquired 19 other businesses in the sector, growing to 115 accident repair centres. In this period the Group was also names in the Sunday Times fastest-growing businesses as well as being names by the Independent as one of the top 100 job creators in the country.
Steer Automotive invested significantly in its operational infrastructure and management team which vastly improved its operational efficiency, while also introducing data & analytics tools to enhance KPI monitoring as well as rolling out a programme of ESG initiatives. The Company also launched the Steer Academy to diversify recruitment channels and to train and upskill the next generation of vehicle technicians.
In April 2024, we exited our investment to Oakley Capital.
