Obituary: 50-year tyre industry veteran Rob Henderson (1949-2022)

Long-standing personality within the international tyre industry Rob Henderson has died suddenly, two years after his retirement in December 2020. He was 73. Henderson had an illustrious 50-year career in a variety of tyre industry roles, including management positions with Stapleton’s, Al Dobowi Group, and latterly Enjoy Tyre. He leaves behind his devoted wife Kathy, their four daughters Kirstie, Gayle, Melissa and Gemma, and five grandchildren.

Rob Henderson’s successful career started at ATS in the Northwest of the UK. He moved on to a stint at Tyre Factors, followed by management positions with WS Tyremasters, then Stapleton’s Tyre Services.

His growing experience within the industry then helped him to land the position of UK & European general manager at Dubai-based Al Dobowi Group, where he was responsible for promoting the distributor’s house Infinity brand and ZC Rubber flagship Westlake. He later moved on to Stamford Tyres in Singapore, performing a similar role as international brand manager for the company’s Firenza brand.

Rob spent the final seven years of his career with Chinese based Enjoy Tyre, where he managed the company’s Rotalla and Routeway brands in the UK and Europe. He often commented that it was a pleasure to spend the last few years of his career with Enjoy and appreciated the support the company gave him.

Over the five decades he was involved in the industry, Rob built many enjoyable working relationships, such was his easy going and sociable manner.