IMO Car Wash Group is the largest car wash company in the world, with nearly 900 sites in 14 Countries, washing over 33 million vehicles each year. IMO has over 300 sites in the United Kingdom trading as arc Clean Car Centres, and also more than 335 IMO sites in Germany, with the remaining sites across 12 other countries. IMO is both the European and global market leader in terms of site numbers, geographical coverage and unit volume. Combining its scale and low cost approach, IMO provide customers with exceptional value for money.

IMO was founded in Germany in 1965 and expanded to include sites in the UK, and throughout continental Europe. In 1990 the German operation was sold to fund the further development of the UK business.

At the end of 1998 Bridgepoint Capital led a management buy-in acquiring the Group (excluding Germany) for £116 million, and subsequently provided funding for IMO to reacquire the original German operation from Harpen AG in January 2002 for €126m.

In Jan 2004, the Group was acquired by JP Morgan Partners, the private equity arm of JP Morgan Chase & Co. The acquisition valued the business at £350m ($610m) with JP Morgan Partners acquiring the entire company.

The Group was then sold to The Carlyle Group in February 2006, who are well positioned to work with IMO as we seek to expand further geographically

Since 1998 the IMO group has grown from 412 to nearly 900 sites to make it the worlds largest independent car wash operator.

Our Clean Car Centres stand for:

Quality
Our unique pre-wash process is designed to remove stubborn stains and surface grit from your car before you go through the wash hall. Choose the wheel wash options and we can clean all wheel types. In the wash we can pamper you with scents and triple foam to give your car an all round glow. What's more we are the only automated car wash to give you a dry on every programme.

Speed
Our specialised cleaning system can wash up to 4 cars at a time which means you'll never have to wait long.

People
All our sites offer personal attended service so you can be sure that your car is safe in our hands.

Value
Our combination of wash quality, speed and personal service ensure that you'll always receive value for money.