Originally Posted by Glassman

Also, despite what anyone tries to tell you, the best available parts are OE. With rare exception, if the windscreen (or glass) does not bear the vehicle manufacturer's logo/emblem/name, it's not as good and probably has not been manufactured in the same country, never mind plant. One of the biggest misconceptions in windscreen branding is spread by the fitters who are merely regurgitating what they've fed on by hearsay. Chinese Whispers on the intertubes does the rest.

Originally Posted by Thrush

Not really Steve, no. ALL the windscreen companies are closing branches, not because they are shrinking but because customer demand doesn't want to drive into fitting centres; they want everything mobile. So by removing branches and having dropbox satellite sites, overheads can be cut and profits maximised. I've been doing it branchless for the past 5+ years so it's nothing new to me - if anything it's better as my dropbox is only ten mins from my house, as opposed to the hour my last branch was.

Whilst AW aren't as big as they were pre-2011 liquidation, they are still bigger than Nationals are. Many fitters from both companies have left to go to Nationals, and good luck to them; they are going to strength with that kind of experience boosting their staff levels. AG are still number 1, and AW have slid into the number 2 slot by strategically removing AA completely. The wait times are less at Nationals because they have less work per fitter available.