Nationwide Autocentres, AM repairer of the year, has bought four sites in Bolton, Litchfield, Tamworth and Burntwood since the beginning of 2008.

The repair centres, bought from independent garages, bring the network to 216.

Eight more sites are currently under due diligence and the company is in early talks about another 12.

Nationwide added four new centres, acquisitions in Bristol, Bradford and Dunstable and a new facility in Hucknall, at the end of last year.

Duncan Wilkes, chief executive at Nationwide Autocentres, has said in the past that there is scope for around 400 service centres in the UK, but admitted that it would “take a while” to get to that stage.

Wilkes said current economic conditions were not having an effect on the business.

“We are seeing organic growth and growth as a result of the centres we’ve added.”

However, he is concerned about the Block Exemption review. “We are worried that there’s an implication that the process to make sure manufacturers release data is not going to be enforced,” he said.

“We want to see everything possible done to see the data backed up.”

Wilkes backs the Right to Repair campaign. It is, he said, important from both a “competition and a consumer choice perspective”.