The AA has opened a new training centre at Six Hills, Leicestershire. The academy will now become the main UK site for AA technical training.
The training school was officially opened by AA managing director, Roger Wood and replaced the previous centre that was situated at Widmerpool, Nottinghamshire, which closed in April.
The NTDA has announced that Tim Parker, former Kwik-Fit and current AA CEO, will open the business sessions at the association’s annual conference. John Tarbox, chairman of the organising committee is enthusiastic about the success of the conference.
Private equity firms Permira and CVC Capital Partners (CVC) have announced their acquisition of the AA. The companies have agreed to pay £1.75 billion, subject to regulatory approvals, for one of Britain’s best known motoring organisations.
National Fleet has appointed Martin Towers as Commercial Director for its recently expanded mobile tyre fitting division. He will report directly to National Fleet’s Managing Director, Kevin Parker. Martin Towers is a familiar name to the fleet industry and joins National Fleet with many years of industry experience gained with Kwik-Fit Fleet, Tyreserve and latterly the AA.
AA Tyre Fitting general manager David Goodyear says that using a mobile tyre fitting service can save a 500-vehicle strong fleet up to £20,000 a year. Estimates suggest that the average hourly cost of employment to a company for a fleet driver is £28.50 and that the average fleet car has 1.4 tyres replaced every year. On average, a visit to a fast-fit centre to have a tyre change lasts 90 minutes, it is claimed. For a fleet of 500 vehicles, this would cost employers almost £20,000. “Over a large fleet, that wasted time mounts up and the figures that we have compiled show it to be considerable cost. But it’s a cost that can be saved through mobile fitting. Most tyre replacement can be done by mobile fitters while a driver continues to be productive working in their office, or even relaxing at home during the evening,” he added.
The Automobile Association (AA) revealed figures for its busiest and quietest days of 2000. 20% of call outs were for flat or faulty batteries. The advice from the AA is that if a battery is struggling, get a new one. The second largest reason for call outs was for tyre related problems, with 7% of callers having tyre problems.
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