John Church Steps Down from Group Tyre

Group Tyre (UK) Ltd chairman John Church is to step down from 1 April 2006, because of health reasons. According to an official statement, the decision was agreed mutually by John Church and Group Tyre and fully supported by the managing directors of all Group Tyre member companies. The directors of Group Tyre paid tribute to John Church’s leadership.

As a result Larry Cross will increasingly take up the role of coordinating director, as well as there being a greater input from the other managing directors of Group Tyre member companies. Group Tyre’s head office management will reside with Karl Naylor, (director of commercial operations), Nick Manning (director of purchasing – who assumes this responsibility from Larry Cross) and John Dunleavy (financial controller).

Paying tribute to all of John Church’s efforts the official statement added: “John has been with us from the start of Group Tyre 10 years ago and he is, quite literally, irreplaceable. We will use this as a positive opportunity to restructure Group Tyre, not only for its future development but also to be able to respond to changing market situations. Under John’s direction we have steadily built up our management team, which is now one of the strongest in the industry.”

Group Tyre pledged its policy of service-led commitment to its retail customers – pioneered by John Church – will be further consolidated by their strengthened management team.