GSF Car Parts as we know it today, combines 5 previously separate companies, 3 of which had been in competition with each other for many years.

The GSF story really starts in 1977 when Stan West started a company called Vee Wee, specialising in VW parts, as the name suggests! Vee Wee was sold in 1981 when a very rich Swede made Stan, as is said, an offer he couldn’t refuse. The buying company was KAW, Stan joined KAW and in 1982 became boss of KAW and again of his old company Vee Wee, but a disagreement between Stan & the owners of KAW caused Stan to leave in 1985.

In 1987 Stan West and well known Kiwi, Maurice Forde started a new company called German & Swedish, and in that same year KAW went bust. As the G & S name suggests, the company traded in parts for all German & Swedish cars. A new company Tecknik took over the old KAW London Branches and G & S bought those back just before Tecknik went bust in 1989. German & Swedish started their operations on a small scale, but by the early 1990’s were embarking on a planned expansion scheme, with new branches opening and a large Headquarters building being acquired in Feltham.

Despite Stan West’s involvement with VW parts from very early days, there were also other companies in competition with him in the market place. Autocavan, a VW parts specialist was started by Geoff Thomas in around 1972, and by the 1980’s had expanded their operations to include several regional branches. In 2000, GSF Car Parts acquired Autocavan, and their Farnham HQ is now a GSF branch managed by long serving Autocavan VW guru Andy Pearce.

URO, started by Tony Hale around 1974 was a Birmingham based VW/Audi parts supplier who had also expanded rapidly, initially by the take over of the old KAW non London branches. They had acquired large premises in Castle Bromwich, and had opened a regional network of branches. URO were acquired by GSF in 2001, and the old URO premises are now the main GSF Group warehouse, following considerable extension, giving over 100,000 sq ft of space!

In April 2000, German & Swedish departed from their traditional market, and also renamed the company as German Swedish & French! This was the result of a merger with a company called Andyspares which had started in 1982 and was different to the others in the G&S Group in that they specialised in French car parts; Citroen, Peugeot & Renault. (Stuart Bartlett who brought Andyspares into the GSF fold has rejoined GSF as our Director in charge of Branches) The French business was transferred to the main GSF HQ at Heathrow from Andyspares at Reading, where it now comfortably co-habits with the staff from the old G&S.

That completes the GSF company history. Today, GSF employ around 700 people of all ages from 16 to 65 in 55 locations, including Northern Ireland and Eire. There are over 250 GSF vans on the road, and the company has a turnover in excess of £50m.

Despite the various takeovers and mergers, we still have many long serving members of staff to ensure continuity, plus of course the Group employs various members of the West family! Stan West is now the GSF Chairman, and his sons Jonny and David are employed by GSF, whilst his brother Jack is manager of our Trafford Park branch.

Andy Pearce, Farnham Branch manager, joined Autocavan in 1973, Richard Chadbourne, our Sales Rep started in KAW around 1974 and been everywhere since! Kerry Baxter, now the Sales Manager at GSF Birmingham, started in KAW in 1974, then was Manager of the Bristol branch for around 15 years. Maurice Forde, one of the original founders of G&S, is now the GSF Purchasing Director. Basil Palmer joined Vee Wee in 1980 aged 16 and is now the Operations Manager at GSF Heathrow. Following stints at VW dealerships and various independents, Heathrow Sales Director Dave Atkinson joined G&S in 1992. Ex KAW and URO VW parts specialist Andy Stevens has just clocked up 25 years service to the Group, and is now at our Birmingham HQ. The list goes on...........

The GSF Group is very proud of its achievements since the early days, and we are now one of the largest independent motor factors in the UK. We must thank our staff for their hard work over the years, and now we look forward to continued expansion. As ever, our ethos is to give you, the Customer, the parts that you require with good service and value for money. It is our belief that expansion is achieved as the result of this ethos, combined with continuity and reliability.