First Highway Heroes win Goodyear tyres

The UK’s first Highway Heroes have received public recognition and some Goodyear tyres. During April and May, Goodyear invited nominations via LinkedIn for deserving commercial operatives, with one winner chosen each month to receive a brand-new set of premium tyres for their personal vehicle.

With the competition now closed, two sets of Goodyear’s recently launched EfficientGrip Performance 2 tyres have been awarded to Graham Watson, Depot Manager at BMTR, Coleshill, and Martin Foster, Company Operations Manager at City 1st Tyres.

Gary Hickman, operations director, BMTR, commented: “While Graham is a deserving winner, our technicians are all flying the flag for Goodyear and BMTR, providing around the clock service to our customers and ensuring we keep all transport moving. They have been working in all conditions to keep fleets moving, ensuring emergency phone lines are covered 24/7 and customers’ needs are met, all whilst also working to the strict BMTR and Fleet Owners’ guidelines. The whole team at BMTR, Coleshill, are genuinely top blokes and are all Highway Heroes!”

Graham Simpson, sales development and marketing manager, City 1st Tyres, added: “As operations manager, Martin has excelled in the role, particularly over the last few months, during Covid-19. This included tasks such as staff cover, stock management and, most importantly, ensuring the health and safety of all the technicians. Martin also guided the teams, so we didn’t see our standard of service delivery fall. In fact, we continuously attend jobs 24/7, 365 days a year, maintaining an average 75min response time during April and May. This provides minimum downtime for our customers, who are delivering vital supplies and goods to supermarket shelves. When I told Martin I had nominated him, he was quick to recognise it’s a team effort. But it still needs someone at the helm and I believe Martin held the operation together very efficiently.”

When nominating Foster, Simpson also stressed that, during these challenging few months, he has even assisted with the setup of a new servicing location in Swindon, giving City 1st Tyres coverage along the M4 Corridor and helping to continue delivering a premium service. With this expansion, City 1st now has eight depots, two of which service Gatwick and Heathrow.

James Stranex, Network & Services Manager UK & Eire, Goodyear, concluded: “As lockdown restrictions gradually continue to ease, it’s important that we remember the dedicated commercial workers who have kept us going when we needed it most. We’re proud, at Goodyear, to play a small part in showing our recognition of these inspiring commercial operatives, by awarding some premium tyres to two truly deserving Highway Heroes.”