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SEPTEMBER 2014 PRO INSTALLER
Wolseley Register celebrates
50th anniversary
As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of classic car association Wolseley Register, members from as far as
Australia, along with their cars, convened for a pit stop at the head office of original name bearer, Wolseley UK.
Thirty members were
greeted by Steve Ashmore,
Managing Director, Wolseley
UK and Sir Charles Wolseley, Patron of the Wolseley Register and a direct
descendent of Wolseley
UK’s 1887 founder, Frederick
York Wolseley. Sir Charles
was accompanied by Lady
Wolseley and The Town Mayor of Royal Leamington Spa,
Councillor John Knight.
The event was a chance for
members to meet up with their
cars before moving on to the Register’s National Rally at Nuffield
Place in Oxfordshire.
Wolseley cars have a rich heritage dating back to 1895 when
the first wholly British motor cars
were built in prototype form, the
Lanchester and the Wolseley TriCar. Wolseley then became one of
the most successful British manufacturers of motorised transport
before the First World War, with
vehicles ranging from motor cars,
buses, lorries, railcars, locomotives, boats to aero engines. The
Wolseley Register came into being
as a club for enthusiasts in 1964
with the objectives of providing
fellowship and practical support.
Some of the cars in attendance
were very rare, including Lord
Nuffield’s own 25 horsepower
“drop head coupe,” three “New
Fourteen” Wolseleys from the
1930s and a 1931 Hornet “occasional coupe”.
Geoff Craggs, Chairman of the
Wolseley Register commented:
“It’s always a highlight for us to
visit Wolseley UK as we value
the historic link between our
two organisations. I know our
members enjoyed the stop-off and
it was nice to be greeted by some
important guests to celebrate a
very special milestone for the
Register.”
Steve Ashmore added: “We
were pleased to welcome Wolseley Register to our head office
and support the club’s birthday
celebrations. Wolseley cars are
beautiful machines and seeing so
many of them together was a real
treat - not just for me but for all
the employees based here. I’m
proud of the role Wolseley played
in shaping the British car industry and I enjoyed celebrating our
heritage with Wolseley Register on
their special anniversary year.”
Today, Wolseley UK, a subsidiary
of Wolseley plc, provides construction products and materials
through a nationwide branch
network, including Plumb Center,
Pipe Center, Drain Center, Climate
Center, Parts Center and William
Wilson.
Wolseley plc is the world’s largest specialist trade distributor of
plumbing and heating products
to professional contractors and a
leading supplier of building materials in North America, the UK and
Continental Europe.
For more information on the
Wolseley Register visit: www.
wolseleyregister.co.uk
Wolseley UK provides construction products and materials
through a nationwide branch
network, including Plumb Center,
Pipe Center, Drain Center, Climate
Center, Parts Center and William
Wilson.
Wolseley UK is a subsidiary of
Wolseley plc.
Wolseley plc is the world’s largest specialist trade distributor of
plumbing and heating products
to professional contractors and a
leading supplier of building materials in North America, the UK
and Continental Europe. Ongoing
Group revenue for the year ended
31 July 2012 was £12.7 billion and
trading profit was £658 million.
Wolseley has around 41,000 em-
ployees, is listed on the London
Stock Exchange (LSE: WOS) and
is in the FTSE 100 index of listed
companies.
For more information, please
visit www.wolseley.com or follow us on Twitter https://twitter.
com/wolseleyplc.
DVLA launches ‘MyLicence’
New database to be used by insurers
A new online licence checking service is
due for launch shortly which will enable
insurance companies to check on motoring
convictions and penalty points of drivers
before insuring.
Individual driving records of all British motorists will be put online which should reduce
the amount of invalid insurance policies but
could also be concerning for data security. Currently insurers can check individual
driving records through the Driver & Vehicle
Licensing Agency (DVLA), a government body
but it proves to be expensive and time-consuming, so insurers ask drivers to declare
their licence history and assume some drivers
will either lie or make an honest mistake
about the number of points on their licence.
The data held will confirm the type of
licence held by the customer and how long
they have held their licence, and specify any
driving offences. The ABI said seven of the
top 10 motor insurers had registered for the
service so far, before an expected launch this
summer. Others are sceptical about the possible savings for motorists and concerned about
data security, Julie Daniels of the comparison
site comparethemarket.com said: “I believe
that there will be little material change in premiums until the initiative is taken up across
the industry.” Malcolm Maycock, director of
Licence Bureau, a licence-checking company,
said “the main concern with any system has
to be data security.”
The DVLA will have a separate online database for consumers to check that their details
are correct as they will not have access to the
MyLicence system. This system, called View
Driver Record, is being piloted by the DVLA
and is due to launch shortly The migration
of driving licence data online is part of the
Government’s digital agenda, which has been
gradually moving services on to the internet.
The paper counterpart of a driving licence
is due to be phased out by 2015 in favour of
a photo-card licence. Plus the paper car tax
discs are due to be scrapped from October
this year.