Meeting the Demands of Today’s Tyre Business

Tyre technicians throughout the UK are benefiting from a training scheme aimed at improving industry standards, and the first group of delegates have now successfully completed their courses. The awards scheme, run by Bridgestone UK, recognises excellence in tyre servicing and care, together with professional customer service delivery. The scheme offers three different levels of achievement for both car and truck categories – gold, silver and bronze – which are attained by completing a set number of training courses.

Bronze award achievers are required to pass four modules in either car or truck tyre training. They cover subjects such as health and safety, customer care, tyre knowledge and roadside breakdown assistance. Courses at this level are held at training locations across the UK. Upon passing each module, technicians are awarded a Bridgestone certificate of achievement, and when all four modules are completed, they receive the bronze award, which is recognised by the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI). They also become eligible for IMI membership. The more advanced silver and gold awards cover tyre technology, specialist tyre care and management skills. Some of these courses are held at Bridgestone’s European Education Centre in Rome.

Paul Turner, technical training manager for Bridgestone UK, said that the first group of technicians to take part in the scheme have already completed their bronze, silver or gold awards, and he was expecting that more would achieve these levels over the coming months. “The courses are designed to make sure that tyre technicians can meet the demands of today’s tyre business,” said Paul, who jointly runs the scheme with colleague Phil Thirsk. “The industry now is very specialised, and we’re aiming to ensure that the technicians who attend our courses come away with improved skills and knowledge.

“In particular, we’re trying to improve awareness of health and safety practice, and the potential dangers of roadside tyre replacement – an area that has perhaps been neglected in the past but is now our most popular subject.

“Working with tyres is a highly-skilled profession, and our awards scheme is designed to recognise that by giving technicians a core set of qualifications that will help them tackle most jobs competently – and safely.”

Paul added that the ‘hands-on’ courses, which have been developed by the Bridgestone Training Department and are approved by the IMI, have been attracting interest from a number of tyre dealers and haulage companies, including several members of Bridgestone UK’s First Stop and Truck Point network of independent tyre dealerships. “The courses proved to be very popular with our first delegates, and we’re now getting lots of requests for particular courses from different dealers,” said Paul. “Clearly, the industry as a whole is waking up to the need for better training and standards, and our aim is to be a key part of that.”