Treadsetters mentioned in HSBC annual report

Remember how Telford-based tyre wholesale operation Treadsetters beat over 1600 other businesses to the finals of HSBC’s business thinking awards at the end of last year? The firm were regional winners securing a prize of £115,000 reaching the last 18 in the finals in Hong Kong. They may not have won the final overall, but making it to the short list of just 17 companies for the bank’s “International Insights” event in Hong Kong on 5 December is said to have opened up a number of other opportunities. Getting more than a page of coverage in the once of the world’s best-known banks’ annual report isn’t a bad thing either.

Treadsetters features in a full-page photo collage on page 14 of HSBC’s annual report with a short text describing the firm as an example of “creating export opportunities” on the following page. “The journey that [Treadsetters’] tyres make exemplifies the connections that criss-cross the global economy.”

The text in the annual report explained: “Starting in Shandong Province, the tyres are shipped directly to Treadsetters’ appointed dealers worldwide or to its distribution facility in Telford, UK, before finally being delivered to the customer. The annual report may suggest that a “typical end-use for Treadsetters’ tyres is found…in Kalgoorlie Gold mine in Western Australia on earthmovers used to haul rock out of the mine tunnels,” but it has to be said that the firm sells many more truck tyres than EM products plus car tyres too.

Explaining that Treadsetters became an HSBC customer in 2005, the bank commented: “We have fostered a strong relationship with the company, providing long-term loan, receivables and import finance facilities to help it expand. As a result, Treadsetters has achieved an eightfold increase in turnover in five years and launched a range of budget tyres, representing a milestone in accessing new export markets.”

HSBC’s high praise for Treadsetters concluded with annual report stating that the firm “is now one of Europe’s principal tyre and wheel wholesalers, exporting to over 30 markets worldwide.”

Related news:

• Treadsetters Accelerates its Business

• Treadsetters Finalists in HSBC Business Thinking Competition

• Treadsetters Aiming to Increase Durun Sales 400%