Point S UK Growth Ahead of Schedule

The plans of international tyre buying and marketing cooperative Point S to fill in the gaps in its European market map with a UK operation are reported to be “ahead of schedule.” In less than a year since membership talks began and just four months after the news of Point S (UK) Ltd formation was announced, the company’s plans for the establishment of one of the largest retail networks in Britain are said to be running so well that they could meet next year’s target before the end of 2010.

Point S currently operates in 20 European countries and has more than 1,900 independently-owned tyre retail outlets in membership and sales of over 11 million tyres per year. Following the news that Point S was coming to Britain, UK Tyres (the predominantly south England based buying group which negotiated the adoption of the Point S moniker in the UK) began an expansion programme designed to grow its existing membership of 13 member and a combined total of 56 retail outlets into a 100 depot network by 2011.

Speaking to Tyres & Accessories during the recent Brityrex exhibition, Point S UK director Charles Sunderland explained that the organisation had already received serious enquiries from 20 companies prior to Brityrex. However by the end of the show around 20 further companies are reported to have expressed an interest. The fact that supply appears to have exceeded demand at this stage consequently leaves Point S UK’s management in the enviable position of being able to require tight quality standards from its prospective members, which inevitably works to the advantage of everyone in the group.

“The Point S offer is highly attractive to independent tyre retailers as it gives them the benefits of enormous buying power and national marketing strength without having to compromise the independence which is their greatest strength,” said Charles Sunderland said immediately before the show. But it is not just the dealer-specific benefits that have caught the attention of prospective members.

T&A understands that certain premium tyre manufacturers immediately took note when the news of Point S UK broke and that a number of tyre suppliers have been in contact with regard to negotiating supply terms. Meanwhile the idea of another large retail business competing with the domination of Kwik-Fit, National Tyres & Autocare, ATS Euromaster and HiQ has been received as “a breath of fresh air” by some of the smaller players who could potentially gain direct access to manufacturers through the scheme in a way that was not available.

A breath of fresh air

This “fresh air” response is particularly related to the news that Point S is planning to offer members access to the UK fleet market – a potentially lucrative arena that is currently dominated by Kwik-Fit, which services around three quarters of this market,

Prior to the show, Charles Sunderland commented: “Brityrex is the perfect opportunity to take the Point S message into the marketplace and speak to dealers,” If the response to the new network, which could achieve its 2011 membership targets as early as January 2010 as a conservative estimate, are anything to go by it seems it was.