![Trelleborg team scales highest UK peaks for charity](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/np-IMGP1217.jpg)
Trelleborg team scales highest UK peaks for charity
On 11 July 2014, a team from Trelleborg Wheel Systems undertook a challenge that few have completed – climbing the highest peak in each of the four countries of the United Kingdom in just 48 hours. They travelled with flags representing each of the 28 UK and Ireland Trelleborg Professional Centers (TPCs), a network of dealers that supply Trelleborg’s complete agricultural tyre range. The expedition took the newly-launched TPC partners to each of the highest peaks, all in aid of the Trelleborg charity initiative, the Antonio Bianchi House.
Continue Reading![Henderson Group signs Kerr’s PPK contract](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Kerrs-Tyres-Henderson-Group-July2014captioned.jpg)
Henderson Group signs Kerr’s PPK contract
Northern Ireland tyre distributor Kerr’s Tyres has announced a new three year PPK deal with grocer Henderson Group. The deal will see Kerr’s Tyres supply, fit and maintain all Henderson tyres. The Group owns the Spar, Eurospar, Vivo and Vivoxtra franchises in Northern Ireland.
Continue Reading![Town and Country mobile founder Christopher Shankland dies](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/C_Shankland.jpg)
Town and Country mobile founder Christopher Shankland dies
The man behind Town and Country Tyres, the UK’s first mobile car tyre fitting business, has died. Christopher Shankland was described by his son, Mark Shankland, joint-founder of Event Mobile Tyres, as a well known figure in the tyre trade for 40 years, having worked for Michelin and independently in the retail business, eventually becoming a consultant with Kwik-Fit. Shankland passed away on Sunday, 27 July. The family are welcoming donations to Prostate Cancer UK.
Continue ReadingThe succession plan squeeze
During the July the staggering and subsequent collapse of Unipart Automotive have made uncomfortable reading, especially if you were one of the 1800 staff connected to the company. Of course we now know that a rescue plan couldn’t be enacted, that part of it has been sold off to competitors Andrew Page and The Parts Alliance and that the rest is in administration. At the same time Euro Car Parts, having once been a front runner in the rescue/chasing pack, has announced it is creating 1500 jobs in parallel – presumably to pick up the floating workers shipwrecked when the great ship Unipart Automotive hit it very own iceberg (click here for complete coverage of this news and its implications on the sector).
Continue Reading“Chaotic” roads will stall self-driving cars
The recent announcement giving driverless cars the go-ahead on UK roads points to an exciting future – hampered at the outset by the daily routine of roadworks, potholes, worn road markings, burst mains and failed traffic lights, according to the Road Safety Markings Association (RSMA).
Continue Reading![Maritime Cargo Services receives EU accreditation](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/AEO_final-cs.jpg)
Maritime Cargo Services receives EU accreditation
Freight forwarding company Maritime Cargo Services has recently been made an Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) in the UK by the European Union. The AEO certificate is an internationally recognised quality mark indicating the security of a company’s role in the international supply chain, with “efficient and compliant” customs controls and procedures.
Continue Reading![Halfords Autocentres launches MOT, service monthly payment scheme](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Halfords.jpg)
Halfords Autocentres launches MOT, service monthly payment scheme
Halfords Autocentres has launched a monthly payment scheme designed to help motorists spread the cost of their MOT and annual service. Drivers using the Privilege Service Plan will pay a fixed monthly sum, with two and three year options available, to include a full or major service and MOT for each year. Halfords will determine the monthly cost through a combination of vehicle engine size and the length of plan chosen. The service provider has also added extra incentives to the plan, including 10 per cent off repairs during the term and discounts on products such as wheel alignment, battery replacement and air conditioning services.
Continue Reading![Nunn promoted to director after 27 years at ETB](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/DIRECTOR-017-e1406802952359.jpg)
Nunn promoted to director after 27 years at ETB
A former fitter who has worked for more than 25 years in a family-run business specialising in exhausts, tyres and batteries has been appointed as a director of the company. Paul Nunn, 43, from Stourport-on-Severn, will sit on the board of directors at Worcester-based ETB (Exhaust, Tyres & Batteries).
Continue ReadingEuro Car Parts hires 65 ex-Unipart Automotive employees
Following on Euro Car Part’s 25 July announcement that the company is planning to create 1500 jobs in the wake of the collapse of Unipart Automotive, the company reports that it has taken on “over 65” ex Unipart employees. According to a Euro Car Parts spokesperson these personnel “have been offered and accepted jobs at Euro Car Parts at a variety of branches across the UK”.
Continue ReadingMake AEB a priority before driverless cars, says Thatcham
Responding to Vince Cable’s announcement on plans to begin trials of driverless cars in the UK next year, motor insurance industry-established automotive research centre Thatcham Research said that while fully driverless cars “are an exciting glimpse of the future with substantial potential to improve road safety,” it opines that the UK car fleet “has a long way to go” before the technology should be unleashed on the motoring public.
Continue Reading2015 start for UK driverless car trials
Up to three cities in the UK will be selected as part of a £10 million competition to host trials of driverless cars, shared Business Secretary Vince Cable today. He said the government is calling on cities to join together with businesses and research organisations to put forward proposals to become a test location. The trials will get underway in January 2015 and are expected to last between 18 and 36 months. Ministers have also launched a review into current road regulations in order to ensure there is an appropriate regime for testing driverless cars in the UK.
Continue Reading![Bridgestone ‘tyre toolbags’ support National Tyres apprentices](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/BRIDGESTONE-APPRENTICE-02.jpg)
Bridgestone ‘tyre toolbags’ support National Tyres apprentices
Bridgestone is supplying National Tyres’ next generation of automotive apprentices with “tyre toolbags” for a second successive year. The manufacturer says it was keen to support the vocational offering by way of a branded holdall for each learner for another year, containing a wide range of equipment to assist in both the classroom and in-branch, after first hearing about National’s pioneering NVQ level 2 training courses in 2013.
Continue Reading![Survey reveals varying attitudes to ‘hit and run’ vehicle damage](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/300714contr2.jpg)
Survey reveals varying attitudes to ‘hit and run’ vehicle damage
What would you do if you damaged another vehicle but nobody saw you do it? A poll of 2,021 adults in the UK suggests that the chances are little over 50-50 that you’d make sure the vehicle owner received your details.
Continue Reading![National Tyres and Autocare aiming for 300 branches](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/EXT-4A-.jpg)
National Tyres and Autocare aiming for 300 branches
On 28 July Scotland’s Herald newspaper reported that Axle Group Holdings, the holding company behind the National Tyres and Autocare tyre retail chain and the Viking wholesale business, had reported a £2.1 million loss in its full-year 2013 figures. The headline figures were that group sales dipped from £166.3 million in 2012 to £161.5 million in 2013. And that while costs fell, 2012 profits of £3.85 million had become a £2.1 million pre-tax loss for 2013. However the complicated nature of holding company accounts suggests that this doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story. Having read accounts filed at company’s house and contacted executives at Axle Group, Tyres & Accessories spoke with company founder, chairman and 60 per cent shareholder Alan Revie who spoke of strong operating results and branch expansion – even a rough goal of 300 branches.
Continue Reading![Calculus Capital invests £2.5 million in WheelRight](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Wheelright001.jpg)
Calculus Capital invests £2.5 million in WheelRight
Private equity firm Calculus Capital has invested £2.5 million in WheelRight Ltd, the tyre pressure monitoring company. Richard Moore, Investment Director, Calculus Capital said: “We are very excited to invest in WheelRight and its market-leading, patented technology. The WheelRight sensor array provides a very hi-tech solution to a practical, every day problem. It will help to lower the costs of motoring, reduce the number of road accidents and limit carbon emissions. We are pleased to be able to support a leading UK technology company that has developed a product with significant global potential.”
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