NTDA chairman Stephen Callow in focus

Lest anyone ask “who’s that giving this year’s speech”, NTDA chairman, Stephen Callow used the opportunity to give some background to how he came to hold this responsibility. In his words, he was like many in the wider tyre industry, “born with rubber in [his] veins.” He is a second generation tyre specialist thanks to the influence of his late father, Ronnie Callow. Ronnie, as Stephen explained in his inaugural chairman’s speech, was a “colourful” character – a description, he noted, that those who remember him would agree with.

Stephen’s first experience of the sharp end of the tyre business was, by his own admission, when he was still in short trousers. His father did not believe in pocket money per se so instead Callow junior fitted tyres to earn his “spends.”

In 2002, 10 years after graduating with an Engineering degree, Stephen Callow took over the tyre retail and passenger car tyre retreading businesses that come under the remit of Callow Car Care Ltd. Now he reports that he is responsible for running one of the country’s largest taxi retread manufacturers.

As a result of this experience, “the last 20 years have given me an invaluable insight into the problems faced by retailers, suppliers and UK manufacturers.

In addition, according to the chairman, Ronnie was passionate about the NTDA meetings introducing his son to them early in his career. Later Callow became chairman for the North West and North Wales region in 2007 and has been the regional representative on the executive council since 2008.