Mobile distributor and lifecycle management firm Brightstar has strengthened its after-sales service offering with a majority stake in repair specialist WeFix.
WeFix was founded in 2012 as Reviveaphone and is the UK’s only smartphone and tablet repair service to be approved by a leading manufacturer. In 2018, it entered into an exclusive agreement with Samsung to provide in and out-of-warranty device repairs to its UK customers.
The company currently operates a fleet of 73 mobile repair workshops that cover 94 per cent of the UK, allowing repairs to be conducted at a convenient location. The investment from Brightstar will allow WeFix to expand to 150 vehicles in the UK and to other parts of Europe, Canada and the USA by 2022.
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Brightstar WeFix acquisition
“The acquisition of WeFix provides a key strategic differentiator for Brightstar’s device protection business, augmenting service offering, choice, response time and convenience, whist strengthening Brightstar’s customer relationships,” said Brightstar CEO Rod Millar.
“Together we’ll be able to deliver a customer experience like never before, with every aspect of in-life device support covered,” added WeFix CEO Aaron Brown.
The market for device repairs is growing as consumers hold onto their devices for longer and the high cost of new handsets drives demand for refurbished technology.
The EU also wants to make it easier for people to fix their devices in order to protect purchases and to reduce the amount of electronic waste generated.
There have been concerns that mobile phones and tablets are designed in such a way that makes them difficult to fix. Combined with low recycling levels, this means many potentially usable devices and rare elements are not returned to the supply chain.
According to the United Nations, the world produces almost 50 million tonnes of e-Waste every year. Only a fifth of this is responsibly recycled, meaning materials that are harmful to humans and can contaminate soil and food supplies are released into the environment.
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