A FIFE-based garage group has made its first move into the west of Scotland by opening a branch in East Kilbride.

Privately-owned D&G Autocare has invested £100,000 to open the new outlet, which will carry out repairs, MOTs and tyre replacement services, in the Kelvin Industrial Estate.

The garage, which takes the number owned by D&G to 14, employs five staff, taking the total headcount to 62. Mr Simpson said it has long been a goal for the business, which has sites in Fife, Perth, Edinburgh and Stirling, to move into the west of Scotland.

He said: "We were always very keen to get into Glasgow and the Lanarkshire area.

"East Kilbride was the first opportunity and when we did the research [we found it] was the largest populated, so there is a lot of business in that area.

"OK, there is a lot of competition, but just to give the consumer another choice with our pedigree is a chance for the people of East Kilbride to get some really good offers on their car repairs."

Mr Simpson founded D&G Autocare with fellow director David Hunter just over 10 years ago.

Both brought more than 20 years' experience in the autocare industry to the business, including managerial roles at automotive giant Kwik Fit.

Asked how the company approached tackling the competition from national players such as Kwik Fit and National Tyres and Autocare, Mr Simpson added: "I know it is the old cliche, we are the one stop shop, we are the friendly garage.

"We are able to carry out more or less everything under one roof, and on the odd occasion where it is maybe beyond the guys on that site we are able to source outwith to get the cars repaired or resolved and rectified.

"A lot of these companies tend to have technicians and semi-skilled [staff], whereas we have time-served mechanics that have obviously got all their papers and experience of our industry so it is different, to say the least.

"We are able to offer a lot more to the customers."

Mr Simpson added that the company favours a strategy of leasing its premises rather than purchasing outright, noting that this frees cash for investing in staff development and expanding.

And he signalled the company had pinpointed Aberdeen as its next target on the acquisition trail.

Mr Simpson said: "We would certainly be very keen and anxious to get up north into Aberdeen in 2015, that's our objective.

"That would give us a bit of variety around Scotland, from the north to the west coast to the central belt.

"We are doing it geographically so that people can identify us and the brand is getting recognised as we are expanding."