FEBRUARY 2024 AFTERMARKET 11 www.aftermarketonline.net different for the UK. We have worked alongside the European SERMI Committee, and gained permission for us to have the SERMI standard in the UK from them. “We will be mirroring the European SERMI standard in the UK. We have support from a number of vehicle manufacturers to do this, and just before Christmas we had a stakeholder committee meeting where it was agreed that the European standard would be suitable for the UK.” The final challenge to overcome is for United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) to agree to be the inspection body. Stuart observed: “We are hoping that the agreement reached with all the stakeholders will be enough for UKAS to agree to starting the audit process of our business.” So, the SERMI scheme could be up and running quite soon, the IGA reached an agreement with UKAS during 2023 to enable garages to register their interest, so once everything was in place they could rapidly sign up. Stuart commented: “We asked businesses interested in being involved in SERMI to let us know. We have a large number of independent garages, locksmiths and other companies that have a genuine need to access this information that have applied to enrol. We have gone through the verification process and the audit process with many of those businesses. All we need is UKAS to audit us and accredit our business.” While some garages might experience some anxiety at what they might see as a new bureaucratic barrier to assail, Stuart pointed out that the SERMI scheme will actually free-up garages: “Up until now, an independent garage has needed to enrol with each manufacturer individually, and some are easier than others. It's a very difficult challenge to get access to each separate vehicle manufacturer, let alone to also get the security level access. The VMs have been managing that process themselves individually, which is a burden on them. “The SERMI scheme will be a ray of light where garages have one login to a single portal for all vehicle manufacturers.” SERMI is enshrined in European law, so all the VMs are on board, but in the UK, it is voluntary. “We'll be starting with about 60% of manufacturers,” said Stuart, “and hopefully, others will come on board in time, when they see how robust the system is. “Vehicle crime still happens and anybody that has this information would potentially have the power to be able to steal, so this system has to be robust. I personally have been on this challenge for many years. We are setting it up on a not-for-profit basis for the UK. Our proposal is currently £25 per month on a five-year licence. These payments only start when the system is live and is inclusive of all Without the SERMI scheme... there is a real risk that the market could be disorted. ”
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