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Stapleton’s: 65 years in business

It was in September 1937 that Sidney Stapleton founded the company in Watford’s High Street in premises that remained Stapleton’s Head office up until 1970. The company distributed tyres to garages and, when they began to emerge, to specialist tyre retailers. Stapleton’s became active in the retail side in addition to supplying tyres. In 1994 Stapleton’s Tyre Services was sold to Japanese company Itochu. In 1997, Roy Croft stepped down as MD, being appointed non-executive Deputy Chairman. Ashley Croft and Peter Regan (who joined the company from Itochu) took over as joint Managing Directors. Ashley later became sole MD. During this period, Stapleton’s had continued to grow, and the ambitions of the company were exemplified by the construction of a purpose-built headquarters, incorporating a warehouse and offices in Letchworth, Herts and a major distribution centre in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. At this time, Stapleton’s was offering a daily delivery service across most of the UK.It was in October 2002 that news broke that Ashley Croft had resigned as MD for personal reasons, thus severing a 44-year family link with the company. His place as MD was taken by Mike England, formerly Retail Director.

11th December 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Sells SA Distributor

Intertyre, Goodyear’s South African distribution operation has been taken over by African Genesis, a wholly black-owned investment company. African Genesis has taken 70 per cent of Intertyre leaving Goodyear with the remaining 30 per cent. Currently Goodyear has 40 per cent market share in South Africa and the change in management of Intertyre is planned to increase the company’s performance. Intertyre CEO Lawrence Mavundla, who is also the national president of the African Chamber of Hawkers and Informal Business, said yesterday that the deal presented an opportunity for small business to set up mini distribution enterprises in the tyre industry. He said the partnership would bring about a “robust growth” in Goodyear’s market share, mainly in the passenger vehicle market.”There are some chamber members who trade in tyres. However, the tyres they sell mostly don’t meet the SA Bureau of Standards’ requirements,” he said. Mavundla said while some of these small enterprises import tyres illegally, the situation was worsened by some traders who used glue to retread tyres, making them unsafe.Intertyre hopes to address these problems by making tyres available at reasonable prices to Chamber members. It is also hoped that this will initiate strategic alliances with Goodyear subsidiaries and create a platform for generating other larger projects in South Africa and neighbouring countries.

11th December 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Wants To Be A Major Global Player In The Agricultural Field

If everything in life went according to plan or the way it was once written down in the corporate strategy books, then the production of agricultural tyres would have been abandoned long ago. Already way back when Messrs. Haverbeck and Borgmann were board members, there were such angry arguments about the distribution of costs that closing down production looked to be a foregone conclusion. Eventually, however, they changed their minds and production of agricultural tyres continued, even though there was next to no money to be made from it. Closing down production would have cost the corporation even more and so it opted for the lesser evil, but for the company’s dedicated agricultural tyres there was virtually no scope for future growth. And yet in this new millennium the German corporation is one of the few truly serious suppliers in this highly specialised field.In an interview with NEUE REIFENZEITUNG in August 2002 in Otrokovice, Werner Flebbe, head of the agricultural tyre sector at Continental AG, and Thorsten Bublitz, head of corporate marketing and distribution of agricultural tyres, admitted that up until 1995 the company did not exactly cover itself with glory – and yet, in the same breath they were able to add that the largest and most modern agricultural tyres demanded by the industry are now built in the Czech Republic. And the price ratios are now ‘OK’. What is more important, according to Werner Flebbe, is that the major Original Equipment suppliers are now strongly interested in co-operating with Continental.

28th November 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Martha Mills Assets Sold

WesTek Inc., also known as Martha Mills, is a privately held Georgia company engaged in the manufacture and distribution of tyre cord and chafer fabric. WesTek Inc. also produces yarns for use as reinforcement fibre for tyres. Cornerstone Investment Group, a private equity investment firm specialising in turnarounds of undercapitalized or distressed small to medium size companies, announced that it has entered into definitive written agreements to purchase the assets of WesTek Inc. Both companies expect the financial arrangements to be completed on or before November 15, 2002.

5th November 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Difficult Year For SmarTire

The Company reported a net loss of $6.8 million ($0.41 per share) 2002 compared with a net loss of $5.5 million ($0.39 per share) in 2001. Gross revenue for 2002 totalled $1.0 million, up from $0.8 million for 2001.

28th October 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Alcoa Realigns Business

Alcoa announced today that it has realigned its existing businesses to provide a closer fit with customer needs in the automotive, aerospace, and commercial transportation market sectors. Bob Hughes, 57, Executive Vice President, will lead a new Alcoa Automotive and Allied Products Group, which will include the businesses that support automotive customers by providing electrical distribution systems, cast and forged automotive wheels, cast and assembled components, and other products.

19th September 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

TyreFort Opens In Birmingham

On September 5th, Goodyear Dunlop UK officially opened its new purpose-built head office and national distribution centre, called TyreFort, in Birmingham. The building houses 300 associates, including Goodyear and Dunlop sales and marketing functions and shared functions such as finance, IT, etc. The National Distribution Centre is a 500,000 square foot warehouse, capable of storing one million tyres, and operates 24/7. In a spectacular opening ceremony, Marco Molinari, Chairman and Group MD for the UK welcomed guests, local dignitaries and customers and the official opening was performed by Mike Roney, President, Goodyear-Dunlop Western Europe.

10th September 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Teves Wins Ford Contract

Continental Teves has been awarded a contract by Ford in the USA for the supply of advanced brake and chassis systems. The company will supply complete systems, including front calipers, booster, park brake system, four-wheel anti-lock brakes (ABS), brake assist and electronic brake force distribution as well as Conti Teves’s Traction Control (TCS) and Electronic Stability Program (ESP) technology.

17th July 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

New Name For Heafner

The Heafner Tire Group is changing its name to American Tire Distributors as from the 4th July 2002. The new name reflects the national nature of the business and focuses on the distribution element of the company. The name change is part of a national branding operation to standardise the company image and operation throughout the USA.

18th April 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Marangoni’s plans for the Stunner brand

As from this spring, Marangoni Tyre is launching an effort to broaden its customer base in Germany – at the same increasing its tyre sales in general – for their second brand Stunner. New partners are being sought in the trade for the distribution of this second brand. The German market has so far not been very much exposed to Marangoni’s second brand, and the corporation hopes to introduce the tread design formerly known as ‘Zeta ESC’ to the market under the name of Stunner ‘Scudo’. The ‘Zeta Linea’, successor to the ‘Zeta ESC’, will take its place within the Marangoni product range, now that it is available in many new dimensions up to 19 inch. Further, at the Essen tyre trade show, Marangoni intends to announce that the ‘Vanto’ tyre model will take over from the ‘Heron’ model and the Italians will officially present this new tyre to the international trade press soon afterwards. The asymmetrical Vanto will be available in sizes up to 16 inch, maximum 235/55 R 16W and, according to PR and Communications Manager Mario Apolloni, its introduction will herald a ‘very special and important moment’ for Marangoni.

16th April 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

19. Fulda-Dealers Conference

Under the slogan “This is Your Road To Success”, tyre producer Fulda invited 150 of its retailing partners to Berlin for a dealers’ conference. The audience heard a clear confession towards the tyre-retailing companies and a towards a marketing strategy which will in the future be mainly oriented on qualitative items. Sales trainer Joachim Bullermann added some sarcastic pieces of advice concerning the right methods of managing your personal shop.In times during which market growth is slow and is reduced to just a few segments (UHP, Off-Road) according to Bernd Joachim Hoffmann, CEO of Fulda, the two aspects of “brand values” and “customer loyalty/trust” fulfil an important function of distinguishing the brand from the competition. Today brands symbolise more than ever “light house” qualities in an ocean of products that are perceived as becoming increasingly similar.The value of a brand is determined by different qualitative and quantitative factors: product quality, brand trust/sympathy, brand identities, brand awareness, market share, pricing behaviour of the brand distribution quality and sales presence, the advertising and marketing spending, earnings and EBIT of the company, sales efficiency, organisation of international distribution and the age of the brand. Concerning this aspect Hoffmann could point to a positive summary for the Fulda brand, saying: “We are already doing things today, while others are just starting to think of tomorrow.”

18th March 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

First B-11 RFID Tags Announced

Intermec Technologies Corporation has announced the commercial availability of RFID tags and readers that immediately support the new B-11 standard established by the Automotive Industry Action Group’s (AIAG). The B-11 standard will guide further introduction of RFID technology into the auto industry. Among the first planned applications will be inclusion of an RFID tag on new-car tyres, allowing car and tyre manufacturers and tyre retailers to track product throughout production, assembly and distribution.

22nd February 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Agreement On Japanese Co-operation For Yokohama and Continental

Yokohama Rubber and Continental AG have confirmed a contract for the creation of a joint venture to supply original equipment to Japanese motor manufacturers and to develop Continental in the Japanese replacement market. The 50/50 joint venture will be called Yokohama Continental Tire and will aim to sell OE tyres to Japanese and Korean vehicle manufacturers. Importation and distribution of Continental tyres, to be sold through Yokohama outlets in Japan, will begin in April.

20th February 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Stapleton’s Acquires WSTyremasters

The news is now official; Letchworth-based Stapleton’s Tyre Services has completed the acquisition of WSTyremasters (WST), one of its largest competitors. This makes Stapleton’s by far the largest UK car tyre wholesaler. Neither side would reveal any financial details of the transaction. The agreement, reached between Stapleton’s and ATS Ltd, WST’s parent company, covers all of WST’s trading interests. It has also been fully supported and endorsed by Michelin, which owns ATS. The deal includes six WST distribution centres in Bristol, Watford, Dereham, Burton, Manchester and Glasgow, 115 members of staff and the exclusive UK distribution rights to the Ambassador budget tyre brand. The agreement has been rumoured for some time, but was only formally concluded on Tuesday. “This is a highly significant strategic acquisition for Stapleton’s which gives a very clear demonstration of our ambitious expansion and development plans for the UK,” said managing director Ashley Croft.

13th February 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

African Expansion For Maxiprest

South African tyre distributor and retreader Bridgestone/Firestone Maxiprest is set to expand with distribution ventures in Namibia and Mozambique. The company has taken a 51 per cent stake in Namibian distributor Quality Tyre and a 60 per cent stake in another tyre distributor, based in Mozambique. BF Maxiprest already has subsidiaries in Zambia and Zimbabwe.

8th February 2002/by Tyrepress Editors