The foundation of Ryds Bilglas was laid in 1947 by Erik Ryd who started Ryds Glasmästeri in Sundsvall, Sweden. In January 2018, both second and third generation Ryd family members were active in the company, which by this time had more than 300 coworkers and operations in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

During Nalka Invest’s ownership period, Ryds Bilglas’ operations was significantly expanded and developed.
In January 2018 there were 88 wholly-owned Ryds facilities in Sweden, 16 in Norway and an additional 19 sites operated jointly with Samglas.

Ryds Bilglas had established a relatively strong position on the Swedish market, a market characterized by a large number of independent, local and small actors alongside a few national operators. As a new generation of vehicles, and also next-generation car glass was introduced to the market, investments in new technology, geographical coverage and volume became important factors in order to create an attractive market position. The increasing market demand also resulted in a consolidation of the market.

Implementation

Nalka Invest identified great potential in the continued development of Ryds Bilglas as a leading actor, also beyond the Swedish borders. Through a number of acquisitions and opening of new sites, Ryds Bilglas went from having repair shops in 32 Swedish towns, to a nationwide network of 88 sites in 52 towns. Ryds Bilglas also made a strategic acquisition to enter the Norwegian market and in January 2018 the company had 16 sites in Norway. Nalka Invest also separated the operation of Ryds Bilglas from related company Ryds Glas to create a distinct brand and an operation completely focused on car glass.

In addition to a large number of acquisitions and new sites, investments in new technology and equipment increased. This enabled Ryds Bilglas to handle the most modern car models and glass technologies available on the market. Particularly important was the investment in new systems for calibration of the vehicles’ safety system when replacing a windshield.

Investments were also made in systems and methodology for improved customer care which contributed to very satisfied clients, manifested in a market leading Net Promoter Score (NPS). Amongst other things, Ryds Bilglas developed the central customer support department in Västerås in order to minimize the number of customer care errands handled by the individual repair shop. This reduced the amount of administration for the individual site, which in turn enabled staff to focus on core operations. The centralized customer support also strengthened relations with the insurance companies as Ryds Bilglas now also could handle parts of the insurance company’s customer support errands in a more efficient way.

In January 2018, Ryds Bilglas had more than 300 co-workers, servicing vehicles at more than 100+ sites in Sweden and 16 in Norway. In 2012 Ryds Bilglas had a turnover of around 300 MSEK and by 2017, this number had grown to around 700 MSEK.