Vredestein: a ‘heritage’ tyre brand for ‘one of oldest’ garages in Surrey

Rowledge Garage has selected Apollo Vredestein as its tyre manufacturer of choice because of the Vredestein brand’s 110 year heritage and reputation. “We felt that we needed a brand which could guarantee performance, safety and quality to our customers,” said current owner Martin Hoare. “We have built our business on trust and reputation, and Apollo Vredestein shares that philosophy with us.”

The brand has produced several milestone products, and has a range that is now made up of: Vredestein Wintrac xtreme (2005, first winter tyre with a W-speed rating, 168mph) to the xtreme S ten year later (Y-speed rating, 186mph), and the latest, award-winning Wintrac Pro (2018), the Quatrac 5 (first all-season tyre with Y-speed rating, 2014, and which still wins accolades) and the newest, high performance Quatrac Pro for the demanding top-drawer sportscar segment.

Rowledge Garage was established in the early 1940s. Owner Martin Hoare started working there as a teenager before setting up his business as a mobile mechanic. In 1989, the teenager who had worked two evenings a week at Rowledge finally purchased the garage; Martin quickly discovered that he needed another pair of hands; a part-time mechanic also joined the two-man team later.

An MOT bay was added to the back of the garage, and an MOT tester was employed in 2010, bringing the current number of mechanics working at Rowledge to four.

Over the years, other bigger garages closed down and this family-run business grew to fulfil the needs of the local community with full workshop facilities (aircon repair and re-gas, auto diagnostics, battery testing and replacing, exhaust system replacements etc..). The workshop was revamped in 2018 to include tyre fitting machines and full wheel-alignment equipment for a ‘one-stop shop’ experience.