On the 25th of July 1979, Autosmart and the innovative idea of selling from a mobile showroom was born.

Britain was in the midst of the winter of discontent. Each day brought a new strike, the cost of petrol soared, the government was faced with a vote of no confidence and a general atmosphere of misery abounded.

Undaunted by this economic climate, Autosmart was launched.The idea was to offer the car dealership a mobile showroom service for valeting products. This meant that rather than buying from a brochure with a 3-5 day delivery time and delivery charge, the valeter could have a demo and take what products he needed there and then with no additional charges. It was a smash hit! Autosmart was the first and competitors have been trying to catch up ever since.

Sales in that first year were £30,000 and have grown a thousand times bigger to £30m with solid plans to increase sales by 70% by 2022.

Sophie Atkinson, Autosmart CEO says, “Being in business for forty years has given us the experience to know who we are and where we are going. We have laid down extremely solid foundations that will serve us well for the next forty years to come.”

Today Autosmart has 150 showrooms across the UK and Ireland with further franchisees and distributors reaching across all corners of the globe in France, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Australia and the USA.

Sophie says, “The celebration artwork that has been created has all of the names of our people, our franchisees and our business connections across the globe within the 40 image. It recognizes the success of everyone who is in the  business today and who continue to make Autosmart the market leading brand for the trade. We love the artwork, we hope you do too.”

Autosmart continues to celebrate its ruby anniversary throughout the year with stories of their people, their products, their franchisees and their showrooms, their long standing customers and loyal consumers.