Dunlop and National Tyres & Autocare train apprentices

For a third successive year, Dunlop tyres has continued to support National Tyres and Autocare (NTA) with its impressive apprentice programme, aimed at developing 16-18 year olds looking to enter the fast fit industry. Since 2015, Dunlop tyres has been a strong supporter of this programme, working with NTA to encourage and shape the future of the tyre industry.

January 2018 saw the second Dunlop tyre training course completed with the groups, with a focus on the importance of winter tyres during the colder months. Over three sessions, 18 apprentices reviewed tyre knowledge they had learnt in their earlier sessions and applied this to winter tyres, enabling them to inform customers when making their tyre purchasing decisions.

Winter tyres are key, not only in snow and ice, but can considerably improve handling and stability when driving in climates below 7 degrees. Educating customers on the benefits these can provide, including supreme lateral grip on slippery surfaces, aquaplaning defence and fuel efficiency are key to finding the right tyre. The apprentices were educated on the latest product in the Dunlop winter range, including the award winning Winter Sport 5 and the Winter Response 2.

Dunlop’s continued collaboration with National Tyres and Autocare has seen a number of apprentices trained on the programme progress to managerial roles within branches, employing their tyre knowledge learnt on the course to advise customers in their decision making progress. Alongside a number of training courses run by NTA, the partnership between the retailer and Dunlop Tyres has proven a continued success, contributing to a high retention rate of apprentices within the business after the programme.

Sarah Martin, Business Account Manager at Dunlop says “We are thrilled to continue our education programme with the next generation of National Tyres and Autocare apprentices. After completing two successful years of supporting the programme, we have seen the proven success of investing in the apprentices to educate them for their future. We focus on both tyre fundamentals and features and benefits to provide a well-rounded training programme and look forward to continuing the partnership going forward”

Graham Atkinson, National Tyres and Autocare Group Training, Development and MOT Manager added “Working with Dunlop tyres allows our apprentices to get an in-depth tyre education direct from the manufacturer. The feedback from apprentices has been positive, with all of them learning more about the business they have joined and giving them industry leading knowledge that will benefit them going throughout their career. This knowledge helps our apprentices integrate into their branches and sets them up for the rest of their programme”.