The British Franchisers Association has announced a shortlist of 13 franchisors for the 2011 bfa HSBC Franchisor of the Year Awards, supported by Express Newspapers. The finalists were selected from entries spanning multiple sectors, business size and locations across the UK and include online tyre operation etyres nominated under the brand builder of the year award.
Like London buses, acquisitions come along in threes – or so the string of recent purchases in the UK tyre distribution sector would make it seem. Between the tail-end of February and the very first days of March, it emerged that Stapleton’s Japanese owner Itochu had bought Britain’s largest tyre retailer Kwik-Fit, Stapleton’s had itself bought North Eastern Tyres & Exhausts, while fellow Grouptyre member King David Tyres had been sold to Malvern Tyres. And what’s more, this movement doesn’t look like it has quite finished yet. In February Harris Brothers sold its four branches to Micheldever Tyres Services, bringing the company’s retail depot count to 53 and counting. True, this overview is lumping changes in the wholesale business together with developments in the retail sector, but as history and recent events tell us the two parts of the trade are inextricably linked.
Bath and North East Somerset Council is the latest to sign up to a Michelin and ATS Euromaster tyre contract, designed to reduce the monthly cost of tyre maintenance and replacement on its 200-strong mixed fleet. The Council used a public sector tyre sourcing initiative via the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) to hook up with the French manufacturer and retailer, fitting Michelin products to its 50 cars, 100 vans, 30 buses (ranging from minibuses to 24 seaters) and 25 trucks – including 8X4 hookloaders and the council’s refuse collection and recycling vehicles. All tyre servicing and supply is provided by ATS Euromaster.
National tyre service provider, ATS Euromaster, has appointed Ricemedia to manage its search engine marketing following the launch of the company’s online tyre shop. ATS Euromaster recently launched a new website enabling customers to buy tyres online and book a convenient fitting appointment. SEO specialist Ricemedia has been appointed to deliver organic search engine optimisation (SEO) and a Cost per Click campaign.
ATS Euromaster is aiming to help fleet managers gain greater control over tyre management with new software developed in-house, combined with its proven electronic tyre inspection tool, to analyse the condition of tyres in such detail that managers can use the resulting report to reduce operating costs and improve tyre life, safety and uptime. The company calls its new analysis tool FleetMax, and it is offering an initial fleet-wide analysis free, and without obligation, to prospective new customers with more than 50 vehicles.
South West division of builders' merchant Travis Perkins and ATS Euromaster were joint winners of a nationwide treasure hunt organised by retread tyre manufacturer, Vacu-Lug Tyres. The two companies secured their win by discovering the 'treasure' – the serial number tag from Vacu-Lug's 100,000th Duramold WZY2 premium retread. As winners, Travis Perkins and ATS Euromaster share a treasure trove of £500-worth of tyres. Simultaneously, the find has triggered a £500 donation from Vacu-Lug to the Help for Heroes campaign.
ATS Euromaster is helping to construct the largest single tyre wall in the world after supplying a truckload of scrap tyres to an exciting rural development project in Newstead, Nottinghamshire. The tyres are being used to form the building blocks of a new visitor centre and café, after Newstead became one of six villages to receive a grant from the Village SOS project, sponsored by Big Lottery Fund and the BBC.
It was widely predicted that the winter, or cold weather tyre market would experience growth in Europe this winter; indeed, the question turned from whether there would be growth to how much of a leap this winter would see. The Euromaster Group has now announced that demand for cold weather tyres across Europe saw volumes reach an all-time high. Its sales alone of the high-grip seasonal car and van fitments exceeded 1.5 million units for the first time, rising by 20 per cent from 1.4 million in 2009 to 1.68 million in 2010. In the UK, volumes sold by ATS Euromaster have risen over the past two winters by 955 per cent.
Essex-based Ovenden Papers has used Michelin tyres on its delivery vehicles for a while, but chose to fit budget brand solid rubber tyres across its industrial fleet – until now, following a puncture-free 12 month trial of the XZM radial tyre. Joint managing director James Ovenden says: “We have been both surprised and impressed by the differences between economy tyres and Michelin fitments for our forklifts. The trial that Michelin set up lasted 750 hours, which is much longer than we are used to, and there were no punctures at all – even though we operate on high-risk surfaces.
ATS Euromaster has released a statement saying that it will continue to have winter tyre stock, in contrast with reports elsewhere that the UK’s supplies have run dry. ATS-E has committed to “ring-fencing supplies to support existing fleets using the high-grip seasonal fitment”, according to a statement made today. “We will not sell every cold weather tyre on our shelves by the end of March – and that’s deliberately so,” says Peter Fairlie, group sales director at ATS-E.
Bosch has announced plans to step up advertising for its Car Service network. The new campaign will see Bosch Car Service target many of the national papers over February and March this year. Publications will include the Sunday Telegraph, The Sun, The Mail on Sunday, The Times and The Guardian, and also motoring magazine, What Car?
Leading utilities sector service provider Morrison Utility Services has selected ATS Euromaster to supply, fit and service tyres across its 2,000-strong commercial vehicle and plant fleet, following a tender process the ATS-E described as “competitive”. The agreement covers 1,300 vans, 150 trucks, 350 plant trailers and 250 compressor trailers, onto which ATS-E will fit Avon and Taurus tyres, with specialist tyres selected for plant items.
ATS Euromaster has launched a pilot mobile service designed to help large truck fleets save on fuel costs and as a result reduce carbon emissions. The “Carbon Cutter” service uses technicians with purpose-built vans to visit customers’ sites across the UK to check, and if necessary adjust, the tyre pressures of every vehicle and trailer in the fleet. The technicians will also look for wheel alignment problems. They will also offer green valve caps as an indication of checked vehicles. Simon Tattersall, head of National Truck at ATS Euromaster, explains: “It’s no secret that correctly inflated and aligned tyres reduce rolling resistance on the road, yet in many cases we’re finding significant potential for fleets to further improve the accuracy of their pressures and alignment.
According to the UK distributor for Yokohama tyres, Yokohama HPT, the British motoring public seems to be grasping the benefits of using winter tyres. Even before the recent cold snap, YHPT reported swift sales of its W.drive range of winter tyres, available for the first time in the UK this season. The consensus among those companies selling winter tyres into the British market seems to suggest that this year has seen significant growth, a development predicted in tyrepress.com articles since last year’s cold snap.
ATS Euromaster has announced its support for this year's Commercial Vehicle (CV) Show, saying the event's return after a two-year absence is “evidence the industry is recovering from recession.” As a direct result of the economic downturn the 2009 event was cancelled and last year a scaled-down version was held, dubbed the CV Operator Show, which ATS Euromaster attended. This year's event will be held in its original format at Birmingham's NEC from12-14 April and ATS Euromaster will occupy a 144 m2 stand to showcase its tyre management expertise.
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