RAC

A UK motoring services company best known for breakdown cover, with a patrol force of vans and more than 13 million members.

About RAC

The RAC is a UK motoring services company. It is best known for breakdown assistance, where its patrols attend drivers at the roadside, but it also offers recovery, insurance, used car sales through RAC Cars, tyres, car servicing through approved garages, traffic information and legal services. It says it has more than 13.6 million personal and business members.

The RAC's own page does not give a formal mission or list of values. Its stated focus is giving drivers peace of mind across all their motoring needs, and it describes itself as having championed drivers' rights. It publishes the annual RAC Report on Motoring, first produced in 1988, which draws on about 3,000 drivers, and it lobbies on issues such as road safety and the cost of motoring.

The organisation began in 1897 as the Automobile Club of Great Britain, founded by Frederick Richard Simms and Charles Harrington Moore. Uniformed patrols started in 1901. Since 1999 it has had no formal connection with the Royal Automobile Club, which remains a separate members' club on Pall Mall in London. The RAC is headquartered in the West Midlands, with operating bases in Walsall, Manchester and Bristol.

The company says it employs around 4,000 people and that its patrols attended 2.6 million breakdowns in 2023. Each van carries more than 500 parts and tools, and the RAC says it repairs four in five vehicles at the roadside. It has developed an electric vehicle charging van called EV Boost, launched RAC Mobile Mechanics in 2022 and was the first major breakdown firm to launch an all-electric patrol van. It also publishes policies on diversity, the environment and modern slavery. These are the company's own claims. The history page adds that patrols have used everything from bicycles in 1901 to vans fitted with computers from 1989, and that the RAC launched a fuel patrol in 2010 to help drivers who put the wrong fuel in their car.

The jobs go well beyond patrol work. They include patrol technicians, call centre and customer service staff, mobile mechanics, insurance and claims staff, data and digital teams, marketing and policy specialists, and head office functions. The pages we read did not describe day-to-day culture or give the structure of the teams, so ask the company directly if you want to know more.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Roadside repair and recovery for members.', 'title': 'Breakdown cover'}
• {'desc': 'Motor insurance, RAC Cars, tyres and approved garages.', 'title': 'Insurance and car services'}
• {'desc': "Repairs at customers' homes and workplaces.", 'title': 'RAC Mobile Mechanics'}
• {'desc': 'Assistance and telematics for manufacturers, banks and fleets.', 'title': 'Business and fleet services'}

Key facts

• Founded 1897 as the Automobile Club of Great Britain
• More than 13.6 million members (own site)
• Approximately 4,000 employees (own site)
• Operating bases in Walsall, Manchester and Bristol

Website: www.rac.co.uk