Kwik Fit opens fleet support centre, grows leadership team

On 23 January, Kwik Fit opened its new national Fleet Customer Support Centre just outside Glasgow. The company also announced two additions to its leadership team.

North Lanarkshire Provost Cllr Kenneth Duffy officially opened the support centre, which is located within the Strathclyde Business Park. Duffy joined senior Kwik Fit executives, including managing director Mark Slade and fleet director Dan Joyce to mark the opening.

During the company’s 25 years in North Lanarkshire, Kwik Fit has grown the operation significantly and expanded it to more than 160 people, with staff now providing round-the-clock support, 365 days a year, to more than two million fleet vehicles across the UK. After outgrowing its previous premises, Kwik Fit says the transition to the new location was “seamless.” The new property not only meets the business’s current needs, Kwik Fit says it also provides expansion potential for the operation over the coming years.

New roles for Edwards & Rigby

The centre’s opening coincides with an expansion of the Kwik Fit fleet leadership team. Tom Edwards, who joined the company 18 months ago to work on a strategic development project, is now head of corporate fleet. With two decades of experience in the tyre industry, Edwards takes on responsibility for the strategic account management team and oversight of Kwik Fit’s large customer base. He reports to fleet director Dan Joyce.

Tom Edwards, head of corporate fleet (Photo: Kwik Fit)

Edwards leads an experienced team that Kwik Fit has strengthened with the appointment of Damien Rigby as strategic account manager. Rigby has more than 15 years’ experience in the automotive industry. Prior to joining Kwik Fit, Rigby held various senior positions at franchise dealer groups and within the fleet/leasing sector.

Damien Rigby, strategic account manager (Photo: Kwik Fit)

“The new support centre and the expanding leadership team reflect the continued growth of the fleet business within Kwik Fit,” says Dan Joyce, fleet director at Kwik Fit. “We are delighted that Tom and Damien have joined the team and we have further appointments and promotions as we develop our structure to meet our customer needs in areas including SMR and tailored support for SMEs.”

Continuous evolution

The UK vehicle fleet is growing ever more complex. When Kwik Fit first began supporting fleets in the 1980s, around 50 tyre sizes covered the majority of vehicles. Today, the most popular fleet tyres comprise around 250 sizes, with additional requirements running to more than 1,000 options. In addition to tyre complexity, the move to electric vehicles and increased used of autonomous systems in cars require a greater level of technical expertise and specialist support.

“The team at the support centre is vital to the service we provide our customers who rely on their commitment and expertise to reduce vehicle downtime and keep businesses running smoothly,” says Dan Joyce. “Fleets are often at the forefront in adopting new technology in their vehicles, so it is vital that we are able to support them with the latest developments. Over the last 25 years, we have continually evolved to meet the demand of our customers, and our new operation is set up to do the same for the next 25 years.”