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Apart from the new venue, something else that you will quickly notice about this year’s Brityrex (which kicks off in just over a week's time) is the addition of a series of Tyre Talk seminars, designed to inform and provide a forum for discussion about some of the most pressing issues of the day.
Former NTDA president and BMTR chairman Don Smith died recently at the age of 89.
Don Smith’s long and influential tyre career began after the war, when he took over the running of the family business – Birmingham Motor Tyre Repository, one of the longest established tyre businesses in the country – from his father, J. J. Smith. He was a staunch supporter of the NTDA, and was the association’s president in 1969. Later he was appointed an honorary member and also served as a trustee of the association in the early nineties.
Rubber supplier Lanxess has announced plans to make its biggest investment in China to date with the construction of a 235 million euro, 160,000 tonne a year synthetic rubber plant. The factory, which will be situated in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, will specialise in the production of EPDM synthetic rubber, which is used largely in the automotive and construction industries.
To kick off the Annual Tyre Safety Week, the Northern Ireland region of the National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) is promising a dramatic demonstration of the importance of fitting the right tyre when the weather turns wintry.
Last year's Tyre & Aftermarket Equipment Supplier of the Year winners (at their first attempt) Autogem Motor Concepts are joined this year by regular finalists Apaseal and Rema Tip Top Automotive. A new name is that of Pang UK and the final company in the shortlist is that of CAM Systems – very different from the others in that it provides software solutions as opposed to machinery and consumables.
The industry advertising campaign category is sponsored by Tyres & Accessories and is designed to demonstrate the depth, variety and ingenuity of tyre industry advertising – to both the trade and public – across all media (print, TV, Internet, social networks). Past winners have tended to be tyre manufacturers, but this year the tyre makers and importers have been joined by a retailer, in the shape of Kwik-Fit.
Since their introduction, the NTDA Tyre & Fast Fit (TAFF) Awards have become something of a tyre industry institution and the competition is always keen. After all, who wouldn't want the bragging rights of saying that you have been chosen as number one in your sector by your customers?
For those who don't know, the awards are made in a number of categories, in which five finalists have been selected, following nominations from NTDA members. The tyre industry then gets the chance to vote for a winner in each category, with voting forms published in the June, July and August issues of Tyres & Accessories, or you can cast your vote via the NTDA website.
On 16 July the BBC’s Panorama prime-time documentary series reported on the subject of illegal tyre dumping. It’s always good to see the BBC talking about tyres in a high profile slot, but questions will be asked about whether everything reported was either representative or wholly accurate.
The programme, entitled ‘Britain’s Biggest Waste Dumpers’, looked at what it described as “fly-tipping on an industrial scale” and highlighted three key issues: The perceived lack of transparency and clarity relating to retail tyre disposal charges; illegal dumping in the UK; and the negative effects of exporting end of life tyres. This last point referred to both the effects this practice has on the domestic tyre recycling market and on the destination country and referred to both legal exports of tyres for use as fuel to countries that control their emissions, such as South Korea, and illegal exports to unrestricted countries like China and Vietnam.
Linglong Tyres, manufactured by Shandong Linglong Tyre, China’s third largest tyre producer, recently supported the automotive industry charity BEN at the Lynwood Summer Fete held at the end of June.
The Al Dobowi Group has announced that it is to sponsor Virginia Espejo; a 23-year old rising star in the sport of golf. The company says that it was impressed by the potential of Virginia, who immediately became hooked on golf after starting to play alongside her father at the age of twelve.
Conti is working to enhance the efficiency of the roadside breakdown service it provides to commercial vehicle operators and hauliers through its Conti360° fleet service network. The manufacturer reports the development of a series of bespoke roadside training courses for its Conti360° network partners, which it believes will help raise safety standards among tyre fitters and promote best practice in attending roadside breakdowns. The three levels of training course are designed to equip the Conti360° network with improved tyre fitting expertise and allow its partners to gain the industry-approved NTDA REACT Roadside Breakdown Licence, which is now mandatory for all NTDA members engaged in roadside maintenance or repairs.
At the end of May, eight years after it began hosting such events, the Tyre Recovery Association held its annual Forum day in Warwickshire. This year’s was entitled “a commitment to excellence” and saw speakers representing everyone from Michelin Tyre Plc to the Environment Agency and ATS Euromaster share their perspectives of how excellence can be achieved.
Now the nomination process is over, the NTDA has published details of who is in the running for the 2012 Tyre and Fast Fit Awards’ tyre environment, manufacturer, wholesaler, aftermarket supplier and industry advertiser of the year awards.
Following the publication of our recent overview of developments in the UK tyre retail landscape (Retail: Hold it steady), Tyres & Accessories has now published the accompanying data in table format. This is now available to view 24 hours a day through our tyrepress.com website. Subscribers need only click more to view the details.
The introduction of tyre labelling is likely to be the greatest change tyre dealers will experience this year. In fact some say it is the biggest adjustment to the business experienced in this tyre retailing generation, something that is likely to be true irrespective of country. Whatever your view, the introduction of this legislation comes at a time when European financial markets remain in turmoil and some of the continent’s largest tyre markets – including the UK – have returned to recession. And this at a time when incoming product prices remain high as a legacy of the last couple of years of raw material cost increases. It all adds up to significant pressure on the retail sector.
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