2017 marks 80 years of growth and innovation at Stapleton’s
This year Stapleton’s celebrates 80 years since Sydney Stapleton set up his business in a simple parade of shops at 195 High Street, Watford in 1937. An entrepreneur of terrific dynamism and foresight, he was among the few to spot and take advantage of the fast-growing market for tyres. A decade on, in the post WWII years, the company’s total weekly wage bill amounted to the princely sum of £20. It’s safe to say in this 80th anniversary year the wage bill’s grown considerably now Stapleton’s employs some 1,100 staff at eight regional sales offices and eleven distribution hubs nationwide. It’s also safe to suggest that Sydney Stapleton would be staggered by the scale of his old business, with a current stock capacity of 1.5 million tyres available at any given time.
Continue ReadingLiability of rogue tyre recovery operators increases
Measures announced in the Autumn Budget this week to increase the liability of illegal waste site operators have been welcomed by the Tyre Recovery Association (TRA). As of 1 April 2018, sites operating without the relevant environmental disposal permit, and those knowingly facilitating illegal waste disposal, will be liable to pay Landfill Tax and face fines amounting to an additional 100 per cent of the tax’s value. Operators of illegal sites will remain liable to criminal prosecution.
Continue ReadingGeneral Tire performance partners get to grips with latest Grabber off-road tyres
Almost 60 independent tyre dealers attended two extreme driving experience events organised by Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) to try out General Tire’s Grabber AT3 and Grabber X3 off-road 4x4 tyres. The participating dealers, from MTS’s network of General Tire performance partners, took up the extreme driving challenge at Parkwood Off-Road Centre in Bradford and the Harbour Hill Copse off-road site in Aldermaston near Reading, two of the UK’s most challenging 4x4 proving grounds. The two-day event, which included expert off-road driver training and education about the on and off-road properties of the new 4x4 patterns, was held as a reward for the dealers’ increased sales and customer loyalty.
Continue ReadingMichelin signs five-year official tyre partnership with Goodwood
Michelin will be the official tyre partner of the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival for a further five years. The deal confirms Michelin as the official tyre brand at the estate’s flagship international motoring events until 2022.
Continue ReadingPro-Align partners TEXA to solve workshops’ ADAS challenges
Pro-Align will offer TEXA ADAS diagnostic and calibration tools, alongside support in the form of a series of technical seminars, in a move that it states will help workshops overcome one of the biggest challenges in servicing modern cars. The leading automotive aftermarket companies have joined forces to help supply workshops with everything they need to reset Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). In addition to communicating information on the subject, Pro-Align, most renowned for its distribution of Hunter wheel alignment, balancing and tyre fitting equipment, has added TEXA’s range to its product portfolio.
Continue ReadingMark Whittingham wins exclusive ZF prize
The Original Equipment Suppliers Aftermarket Association (OESAA) selected Mark Whittingham of WH Whittingham and Sons in Rochford, Essex as winner of a ‘Five Supercar Challenge’ driving experience, after participating in a competition held at Automechanika.
Continue ReadingTechMan points out two big wins with automated ‘reminders’
TechMan, the garage management system built by an independent garage, acknowledges that streamlining customer reminder processes may not be the most exciting job for most garages but they argue it can be one of the most profitable. The TechMan management system is designed to make it simple to quickly automate the customer ‘reminder’ systems that drive in repeat business.
Continue ReadingCarbon Clean launches new product at Mechanex Sandown
The Carbon Clean engine decarbonising system has concluded 2017’s successful run of Mechanex shows with a new product launch for its affordable ‘DCS-16’ DPF cleaning system. The new system was introduced amongst a wealth of industry-renowned suppliers in attendance at the Sandown Park event.
Continue ReadingIAAF promises lively post-Brexit flavour to Conference
The IAAF will adopt a post-Brexit theme at its Annual Conference next month, with a host of influential key speakers from across the automotive industry taking centre stage to discuss important issues involving ‘tomorrow’s’ aftermarket and future technology.
Continue ReadingResearch shows willingness to break road safety laws
New research by car finance broker, CarFinance 247, found that despite the new, increased speeding penalties that came into force more than six months ago (24 April 2017), UK drivers are still willing to break the law to satisfy the love of their need for speed.
Continue ReadingMidwest, Apec Braking hold training event
Midwest Motor Factors & Monmore Auto Parts have once again successfully hosted another training event, this time with supplier Apec Braking.
Continue ReadingServicesure garages recognised at Scotlands Business Awards
The Parts Alliance Garage programme Servicesure has yet another award winner J R Auto Services. They took home the prestigious ‘Best Tradesmen’ award at the Perth and Kinross regional ceremony in this year’s Scotlands Business Awards, held at the Huntingtower Hotel, Perth on 12 November.
Continue ReadingDriven consortium visits Downing Street
On Wednesday 15 November, the Driven consortium was given the chance to showcase its ground-breaking technology for the benefit of the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer at Number 10 Downing Street. This was as part of an event held by the government to launch a series of measures to support the continued growth and success of the UK’s world-class tech sector.
Continue ReadingDrivers ‘putting lives at risk by missing eye tests’
Road Safety Week – the UKs biggest road safety event, coordinated annually by Brake, the road safety charity – runs to 26 November and aims to inspire schools, organisations and communities to take action on road safety. While there are many issues that affect road safety, poor eyesight is often overlooked.
Continue ReadingChancellor freezes fuel duty in 2018 budget speech
The headline news from chancellor Phillip Hammond’s latest budget is that Stamp duty is to be abolished immediately for first-time buyers purchasing properties worth up to £300,000. Those first-time buyers purchasing properties over this amount won’t pay stamp duty on the first £300,000. However, there was less to say with regards to the automotive industry and business in general. Nevertheless, the fuel duty rise for petrol and diesel cars scheduled for April 2018 has been scrapped. At the same time car tax for new diesel cars not meeting latest standards is to rise by one band next year. The good news for businesses reliant on deliveries is that this particular tax hike will not apply to van owners.
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