ATS Euromaster in Dundee has secured Michelin’s agricultural seal of approval and gained accreditation as an Exelagri dealer, and by doing so joins a pan-European network of 800 carefully selected farm tyre specialists.
In last year’s ranking of the top tyre retailers in the UK, Tyres & Accessories predicted that the pace of change in the top 20 chains by branch count would result in some jostling for position. This has proved entirely accurate, as two major acquisitions have brought two of 2017’s top 20 into the fold of higher ranked companies, leading to both Micheldever/Protyre, leapfrogging HiQ into fourth place as predicted last year, and Lodge Tyre, into the top 10 from joint-14th last year, making significant jumps in this year’s table. Most other retailers have held relatively stable positions in terms of the number of stores, while our most recent additions to the table, Eden Tyres (15 stores) and Elite Garages (13) were identified as narrowly missing out on places last year.
ATS Euromaster has opened a new dedicated hub centre, expanding mobile tyre maintenance support for quarrying, mining, ports and industrial operators across Yorkshire and the North East. Based in Redcar, the ATS Euromaster hub provides a specialist central headquarters for a mobile service fleet for heavy vehicles, supporting operators with tyre and vehicle maintenance at their own sites in the area from Sheffield to Teesside.
Michelin reports an aim of growing online sales through its Euromaster retail network in the UK and Europe by 25 per cent in 2018. This projected growth follows a 30 per cent increase in online sales through Euromaster this year, with online sales accounting for 15 per cent of all Euromaster sales in 2017.
As part of its activities to support Tyre Safety Month in October, ATS Euromaster tested the tyre pressures of more than 1,000 cars at 28 of its centres across the UK. What it found was that 55 per cent of those vehicles – 561 cars – had at least one underinflated tyre. This high figure closely tallies with the 57 per cent recorded by industry association TyreSafe as part of its ‘Bad Air Day’ campaign.
Four ATS Euromaster branches from across the UK are among the first to join BFGoodrich’s new Off-Road Centre programme. The ATS Euromaster centres – in Perth and Forfar, Scotland; Abergavenny, Wales; and Tavistock, England – have been selected to become BFGoodrich specialists based on their locations in popular off-road parts of the country to offer all-terrain tyres and services. The four ATS Euromaster centres are joined by independent North Yorkshire retailer, and NTDA Tyre Centre of the Year 2017, Ian Brown Tyres in the new Off-Road Centre initiative. BFGoodrich states that it carefully selected tyre retailers recognised by enthusiastic off-roaders as leaders in the field to become ambassadors for the company.
ATS Euromaster has won a new national contract to supply, fit and manage tyres for Kier Services. The new contract replaces a previous agreement with local independent tyre dealers and will see ATS Euromaster support Kier Services’ 214-strong fleet, which ranges from 3.5-tonne light commercials to 32-tonne refuse collection vehicles (RCVs). ATS-E’s proactive MasterCARE fleet inspections, which aim to increase tyre durability and performance, and help to minimise tyre-related downtime, was a key factor in the new contract.
Specialist broadcast solutions company Cloudbass has signed a new deal with ATS Euromaster to maximise its vehicle uptime. Sky, BBC and ITV turn to Cloudbass to assist in the production of high profile live sports programming, including Scottish Premier League football and the British Touring Car Championship. For this reason, Cloudbass required a support partner that could keep its commercial vehicle fleet on the road and minimise tyre-related downtime.
ATS Euromaster has received the Gold Award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) for the fourth year running. The award follows ATS Euromaster’s introduction of additional programmes to consolidate its industry health and safety record.
ATS Euromaster has appointed Jess Jones as Head of National Fleets, with the goal of driving the tyre and vehicle maintenance provider’s growth in the car and light commercial vehicle (LCV) national leasing fleets sector.
The 2017 edition of Tyres & Accessories’ annual retail report shows that the overall number of branches controlled by the top 20 retail chains continues to grow. However, that is just part of the story and the data shows that there have actually been significant movements in every tier of the top 20. Perhaps the clearest observation is that Micheldever’s Protyre retail chain is once again the fastest growing in the UK – a title it claims in 2017 for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, Goodyear’s HiQ franchise network is the top 20’s fastest faller – something that suggests the first changes in the make-up of the top five since we started tracking the UK retail landscape could take place before the year is out.
ATS Euromaster has renewal its SafeContractor accreditation for the eighth year running. The accreditation, first awarded to ATS Euromaster in 2009, means the tyre and vehicle maintenance specialist can instantly comply with the health and safety requirements of many clients, simplifying the procurement process for potential customers.
ATS Euromaster has secured its position as primary tyre supplier to major vehicle leasing and fleet management company Arval, which leases more than 150,000 cars and vans in the UK.
ATS Euromaster has opened a new centre in Rupert Street, Birmingham, that will provide truck servicing, as well as acting as a training centre for new expert technicians.
An upgrade to the existing Aston Truck service centre, ATS Euromaster has invested around £250,000 in a move to new premises which at 22,000 square foot are around double the size of an average service centre.
A joint consultation by Michelin and ATS Euromaster has helped Widnes-based chemical haulier Gussion Transport cut its tyre bill by around 30 per cent. This reduction is said to have been facilitated by the adoption of a fleet-wide tyre management programme and the conversion to a Michelin new and Remix fitment policy.
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