Glass's Guide
Encyclopedia
Glass’s Guide is the leading British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 motor trades
Car dealership
A car dealership or vehicle local distribution is a business that sells new or used cars at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. It employs automobile salespeople to do the selling...

 guide to used car
Čar
Čar is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of 296 people.-References:...

 prices, often referred to in the trade as "The Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

."

Monitoring car values for almost 75 years since 1933, Glass’s Guide has reflected how cars have become increasingly affordable. For example, in the 1930s the £145 list price for a Ford 10
Ford Model C Ten
The Ford Model C Ten was a car from Ford built in the United Kingdom between 1934 and 1937. The car was also assembled in Spain between 1934 and 1936...

 De Luxe, including £5 for an optional sliding roof, was the equivalent of almost two years’ salary. Today, a Ford Mondeo
Ford Mondeo
The Mondeo was launched on 8 January 1993, and sales began on 22 March 1993. Available as a four-door saloon, a five-door hatchback, and a five-door estate, all models for the European market were produced at Ford's plant in the Belgian city of Genk...

 1.8i LX, with a list price of £14,465, represents the equivalent of just seven months’ salary for a person earning the UK average wage.

William Glass

William Glass was born in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 in 1881 and was an engineer by trade. As well as publishing the first Guide to Used Vehicle Values, Glass had an innovative and enquiring mind and made a number of inventions including the portable hydraulic jack, the electric switch-off kettle, the self-filling fountain pen and the through-the-propeller machine gun firing mechanism.

The founder of Glass’s Guide also manufactured cars under the Firefly marque for a short period of time in Croydon. Glass’s other innovations included the first motor auction and the first uniformed attendants at petrol filling stations.

Glass’s history

William Glass founded Glass’s in 1933 and published the first Glass’s Guide to Car Values in July that year. The company expanded into commercial vehicle, motorcycle and caravan values in the 1950s and ’60s, and today provides customers with information in print, electronic and online formats.
  • 1930s - In 1933 William Glass first publishes Glass’s Guide to Car Values which quickly becomes the “Bible” of the UK motor trade
  • 1950s - Hanns W. Schwacke applies the same idea in Germany becoming the first of its kind in continental Europe.
  • 1960s - Hanns W. Schwacke expands the business in Europe under the international brand “Eurotax”. Glass’s launches used valuations Guides for commercial vehicles and motorcycles in the UK.
  • 1970s - The first estimation system, including parts prices and labour costs for all makes and models, is launched.
  • 1980s - Glass’s introduces the PC version of Glass’s Guide and acquires Editions Professionelles Glass SARL (EPG) France. Eurotax launches the AutoWert workplace software which becomes the standard for over 50,000 users across Europe.
  • 1990s - Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst
    HM Capital
    HM Capital Partners is a private equity firm in the United States that specializes in leveraged buyouts. The firm, previously known as Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, was one of the largest financial sponsors of the 1990s. The firm was founded in 1989 by Tom Hicks and John Muse as Hicks, Muse & Co...

     the private equity
    Private equity
    Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....

     group acquires Glass's Information Systems Ltd in 1998 and Eurotax AG in 2000. The companies are merged to form EurotaxGlass's AG, registered in Freienbach
    Freienbach
    Freienbach is a municipality in Höfe District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland.-Geography:Freienbach has an area, , of . Of this area, 40.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 23.8% is forested...

    , Switzerland
    Switzerland
    Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

    .
  • 2006 - Candover
    Candover
    Candover Investments plc is a British-based private equity firm, specialising in arranging and leading large buyouts and buyins. Candover Investments is structured as an investment trust...

     buy the business from renamed HM Capital
    HM Capital
    HM Capital Partners is a private equity firm in the United States that specializes in leveraged buyouts. The firm, previously known as Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, was one of the largest financial sponsors of the 1990s. The firm was founded in 1989 by Tom Hicks and John Muse as Hicks, Muse & Co...

    for €480 million

External links

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