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Green Flag is a British roadside assistance and vehicle recovery provider which is part of the Direct Line Group. Formed in 1971 (as the National Breakdown Recovery Club) as an alternative to the AA and RAC, using a network of local garages and mechanics to deliver recovery and repair services instead of patrolling mechanics. Originally based in Pudsey, their operations are now controlled over several offices within the Direct Line Group. ==History== Green Flag started as an idea between two friends - Bob Slicer and Jeffery Pittock〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=Andy Lambert )〕 - in a pub in Bradford.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Our brands: Green Flag )〕 At the time, the AA and RAC were well-established, and offered assistance at the roadside. Slicer and Pittock's National Breakdown Recovery Club operated under a different model, using a network of garages and mechanics that would recover and fix member's cars. The mechanics' local knowledge was meant to provide a swifter response to calls than the established competition.〔 When the service began as a three man business (with Ernest Smith〔) in 1971, membership only covered breakdowns within a 50-mile radius of their Morley Street〔 base in Bradford, and cost £1.50 a year.〔 Within three years, NBRC had become the UK's largest breakdown recovery firm with over 100,000 members.〔 In 1984 NBRC was acquired by National Car Parks (NCP)〔 and five years later moved to new purpose-built headquarters in Pudsey, which were opened by Diana, Princess of Wales.〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=Andy Lambert )〕 The company was renamed Green Flag in 1994. The company, now being run by Ernest Smith as Chief Executive, was looking to expand into other insurance services. "Green is the symbol of health in Europe," Smith told The Independent at the time. NCP was bought out by US investment firm Cendant who put Green Flag up for sale in May 1999, after regulators blocked their attempt to gain critical mass by also buying RAC.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Cendant completes sales )〕 Later that year, Green Flag became part of the RBS Group when it was acquired by Direct Line for £220m.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Direct Line buys Green Flag )〕 2008 saw Green Flag announce that it would be branding 400 vans across its network to match its marketing.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Green Flag Virtual Patrol Launch )〕 In 2011 Green Flag reviewed its network of contractors, reducing the number of partner firms from 283 to 173, with a number of firms reacting angrily to the decision. Now, five firms represent the majority of Green Flag's network. RBS' insurance division was floated in October 2012 as Direct Line Group. The new company had declared itself a separate entity the previous month.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Our history )〕 In 2015, Direct Line Group announced it would consolidate their sites in Leeds area - with the closure of the old Green Flag site in Pudsey. All staff would be retained and moved to one of their two sites in Leeds Headrow and The Wharf buildings.〔()〕 With Green Flag operations in Glasgow and other offices continuing as normal. 〔()〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Green Flag」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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