Tyre Chomping Cheetah Helps Itself to Backyard Snack
Akea is a cheetah with an appetite for things black, chewy and round….After sneaking out of Hamerton Zoo in Cambridgeshire, the six-foot long African feline headed for the home of the Taylor family, who live nearby. Upon arriving, Akea helped itself to a generous serving of bicycle tyres in their back garden. The unexpected diner was discovered by nine-year-old Toby Taylor, who initially received a measure of scepticism from his mother. “I thought he was pulling my leg but he was white, shaking and shrill,” said mother Jules. “We peered out of the kitchen window and there it was, sitting bang in the middle of our lawn, looking at the house. Mother and son waited 20 anxious minutes, watching Akea gnawing on the tyres of Toby’s bike, until keepers dispatched from the zoo arrived.
Continue ReadingFormula One Tyre Scanner to be Launched at SEMA
The TAC-Scan, a kind of laser scanner designed to record and predict tyre wear, is being launched at this year’s SEMA show in Las Vegas. While it is not the first device that claims to be able measure tyre wear to minute levels of detail, what sets this invention apart is its handheld design and realistic price-tag (TAC-Scan will reportedly market at around £1000 in the UK). As a result, the new device is likely to appeal to fleets and high performance tyre dealers who want to demonstrate the effects of tyre wear to customers. TAC-Scan has been developed by Oxfordshire based company, RL Automotive in association with US based Tire Profiles Inc.
Continue ReadingStapleton’s to Buy Central Tyre
Stapleton’s (Tyre Services) Limited has agreed to buy 56 Central Tyre stores from Pirelli UK Limited. The deal, with a price-tag to be determined when the transfer of Central’s properties is completed, sees the tyre retailer and distributor expand its retail operation from 45 stores to a new total of 101 throughout the UK. The proposed transaction includes both retail and commercial tyre fitting outlets and the existing Central Tyre workforce is expected to transfer across to Stapleton’s upon completion of the sale. Initially Stapleton’s plans to concentrate on integrating the new stores into its network, meaning the company will be responsible for STS Tyre Pros, STS Tyre & Exhaust and now Central Tyre-branded outlets. It is not clear if and how this might change in the future.
Continue ReadingBlackcircles.com Partners With Unipart Automotive
Online tyre retailer Blackcircles has appointed Unipart Automotive as its preferred parts supplier. As part of the new partnership it will promote the Unipart brand and product range to its network enabling the garages to tap into better pricing on parts which can be passed on to customers. Revenue is reportedly up 40 per cent this year while visitors to its website are said to have increased by 55 per cent. The partnership agreement also has benefits in terms of customer confidence, a key area for online businesses. Under the new deal, Unipart will conduct a 10-point quality check, on behalf of Blackcircles.com, for all garages within the network, which will provide a mark of excellence designed to create a new consumer confidence and encourage greater use of independent garages. Mike Welch, managing director of Blackcircles.com, said: “In Unipart we are partnering with a proven and trusted name that will enable us to support our garage relationships across the UK at a crucial time for the industry. Block Exemption creates an excellent opportunity that will ultimately benefit consumers. We are confident that this new deal will increase consumer confidence and highlight the many benefits of using local independent garages to the general public whilst educating people about Block Exemption.” Unipart Automotive marketing director, Wendy Williamson, commented: “By sourcing our service products, the garages can be more confident about the quality they are offering their customers. This will increase customer satisfaction, generating higher sales for the garages involved.” According to the company, Blackcircles.com has developed the largest network of fitting outlets in the UK during the course of the last six years and is currently recruiting more garages to join its UK network.
Continue ReadingNew Website for Those Who Can “Please the Ladies”
Sadly, some garages are still patronising in their treatment of the ‘fairer sex’, and greeting female customers with a leer before steering them towards an expensive and unnecessary purchase is not always just an occurrence from back in the bad old days. Businesses where this sort of behaviour is considered acceptable, however, won’t be recommended by one particular new website. The site, foxychoice.com, has been launched with the aim of helping motorists do their garage buying homework for MOTs and car servicing, and in particular identifying the best female friendly garages and dealerships in the area. Answers to important everyday questions are answered within the site, and motorists looking for female friendly local garages can search to suit the work required then compare qualify features and facilities before making their final choice.
Continue ReadingTPCATS: Built to Last
Staffordshire based TPCATS specialises in the manufacture of stainless steel manifolds, front pipes and catalytic converters to OE standards. Production to an OE standard of course ensures a high level of quality, and the company comments that its stainless steel products are far more efficient and reliable than ceramic alternatives, yet they are available at comparable prices. And as TPCATS has confidence that its products will not break, rattle or fail an emissions test, it is happy to offer a three-year warranty as standard on its constantly growing range. The result, says TPCATS, is fewer returns, less failures and less hassle for customers. TPCATS boasts a valid warranty claims rate of less than 1 per cent, far below the aftermarket standard of 4 per cent.
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Virtual Margins in the online tyre business
In recent years the online tyre market has swollen in size (as observed in other retailer sectors). Whilst the proportion of the total market controlled by this sector remains limited, the fact that the number of different e-tail platforms is continually proliferating means online sales could already account for as much as 3 per cent of the European replacement market. With this in mind, knowing more about how these businesses operate is of interest to everyone in the tyre trade. The latest insight is that the average tyre offered for sale online costs consumers around £69.14, meaning the myth that ‘virtual’ margins are too thin to make business sense could be evaporating. However, the most commonly offered tyre online is characterised as a mid-range brand costing around £60. It seems making money online is all a question of business model.
Continue ReadingKarl Naylor New Grouptyre MD
Grouptyre has appointed Karl Naylor as Managing Director following the departure of Peter Harries, who has left to take up a key opportunity elsewhere within the tyre industry. During 14 months with Grouptyre, Harries has worked on processes designed to build upon the company’s leading role in the tyre wholesaling industry. In this period Grouptyre has enjoyed sales growth of over 15 per cent.
Continue ReadingGiTi Tire Europe Unveils TBR Service Network
GiTi Tire is looking to increase its market presence in the truck tyre segment by implementing a TBR service network. The company has since 2006 built up a comprehensive truck and bus tyre product portfolio incorporating two premium quality brands – GT Radial and Primewell – both of which have been QS9000, ISO9001 and TS16949 accredited and are specifically designed and manufactured to meet the ever-changing demands of today’s European commercial vehicle operators. The entire TBR range is carefully selected to ensure the correct pattern is available for each application: regional, long haul, mixed service or municipal. In fact, such is the growth of the company’s sales presence in both TBR and PCR that two strategic business units have been formed to cope with the demand.
Continue ReadingKwik-Fit Training Receives Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ Rating
The multi-million pound staff training programme operated by Kwik-Fit has been described as ‘outstanding’ following an inspection by Ofsted - the Government’s Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. At present Kwik-Fit’s annual training budget totals more than £3 million, and the glowing report the company received places it in the top five to ten per cent for corporate training provision in the UK.
Continue ReadingExclusive Brands Account for 11% UK Car Tyre Market
GfK data exclusively seen by Tyres & Accessories shows that sales of exclusive brands account for 10.4 per cent of the 2007 UK car tyre replacement market. Based on the results of GfK’s ongoing research, this means 2.62 million of these tyres were sold in the market last year. GfK defines exclusive brands from the retail perspective, meaning tyres that are only available from one clear retail network such as Kwik-Fit’s Arrowspeed brand or ATS’s Riken.
Continue ReadingKingpin and Fraser Evans Lose Responsible Recycler Status
Kingpin Tyres Limited has lost its accreditation under the Tyre Industry Federation’s Responsible Recycler Scheme. A statement issued by the Tyre Recovery Association explained that the accreditation has been rescinded effective 31 July 2008.
Continue ReadingHidden [Auto]Gem
In the last few years Autogem Motor Concepts LLP has grown rapidly from a faltering supplier to an influential player in the tyre and workshop consumable business. The turning point came in September 2005 when the Invicta group of companies took over the reins at Autogem. Initially, the new owners embarked on the project with a team of just 10. The first major move the new managing partners, brothers Prashant and Adit Chopra, made was to consolidate Invicta and Autogem’s existing four warehouses into one bespoke distribution centre in Park Royal, London. They have been in their current warehouse/offices since April 2006 and closed Autogem’s inefficient old Leeds telesales operation in July 2007, after winding down the business’s dependency on this location. Here, the staff of 50 was reduced to just two, with the rest taking redundancy. This rapid reduction in headcount could be seen as harsh, but from Autogem’s management’s perspective it just demonstrates how inefficient the company they took over had become.
Continue ReadingITWS Introducing New Solid Range, Seeking European Dealers
The primary focus for International Tyre and Wheel Solutions (ITWS) at the Reifen Essen show was to highlight the new SG Revolution Cushion solid tyre range, and in particular to introduce the products to potential UK and European dealers. The company was seeking in particular dealers in a number of European markets, amongst them Germany, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands, and when T&A spoke to Sue Williams from ITWS during the show’s first afternoon she was already able to report receiving interest from potentially suitable dealers. Following the show she confirmed that the company had, in its goal, “achieved more success that we could have wished for.”
Continue ReadingGoodyear Dunlop to Supply 100,000 Tyres to Police
Goodyear Dunlop has announced that it will work in partnership with the National Policing Improvement Agency, making it the main supplier of tyres to over 50 Police forces in the country. The announcement names Goodyear Dunlop as the exclusive tyre framework supplier and service provider and will see over 100,000 Goodyear Dunlop tyres fitted to police vehicles, including patrol cars, motorcycles and public order vans, each year for the next two years. The deal covers the country’s 52 constabularies located throughout Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
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