Goodyear Dunlop Archives - Page 19 of 28 - Tyrepress

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Robin Sharpe Appointed New Goodyear Dunlop Director

Goodyear Dunlop has appointed Robin Sharpe as its director of sales capability management EU – a newly created role based in Brussels. He will work closely with Hans Vrijsen, sales director consumer tires EU, and Jan-Piet Huylebroeck, director sales truck tires EU, as well as with country sales management teams.

Sharpe joined Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK in 2006 as sales and marketing director truck tyres after a 22-year career with Procter & Gamble in a variety of sales and operational roles. At Goodyear Dunlop he led the team which embarked on the restructuring of the UK truck organisation and in recent months he has acted as interim retail director for the HiQ fast fit centre network.

26th September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Retreading Special – 2008

The latest edition of our regular Retreading Special feature again looks at the industry in the UK, Europe and around the world. Companies included in our September 2008 special include Goodyear Dunlop, Bandvulc, Galgo, Vipal and Goodway.

26th September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

TransLinc Chooses Goodyear Dunlop as Sole Tyre Provider

Goodyear Dunlop has signed a ‘substantial’ fleet deal with Translinc, the UK’s leading provider of specialist fleet management and passenger services to local authorities, schools, health authorities and public sector clients. The deal includes all tyre orders for Translinc’s 2700 strong fleet of vans and trucks being looked after by Goodyear Dunlop’s TruckForce service network.

The contract includes the latest Goodyear Max Technology tyre that reduces cost per mile through improving fuel consumption and mileage with the help of low rolling resistance and innovative design. Supplying a variety of vehicles, from car derived vans to large refuse trucks, the majority on a contract hire with maintenance basis, TransLinc required a bespoke, cost effective tyre package to its customers.

25th September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Dunlop Makes Big Push for Birmingham Children’s Hospital

Birmingham’s city centre canal system received some unusual visitors on August 31 when Goodyear Dunlop employees rolled one of the company’s Marathon truck tyres along its banks in a bid to raise funds for Birmingham Children’s Hospital. This unusual challenge was thought up by the company’s truck tyre department, which was seeking to take on an endurance challenge in aid of the companies’ corporate charity. The two-mile push saw the team of 15 from Goodyear Dunlop’s Birmingham and Wolverhampton sites negotiate bridges and slopes in an effort to move the 62 kilogram, metre high Goodyear Marathon truck tyre along the historic canal route.

3rd September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Retail Director Leaves Goodyear Dunlop

Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK has announced that retail director Neil Burrows has left the company. The departure comes following the company’s decision to pursue a franchise-based strategy for the expansion of its HiQ retail business.

In March this year Goodyear Dunlop announced growth plans for HiQ via an “area zone” Accelerated Franchise Programme, adding that Burrows was to lead a management buyout bid covering all of the company’s owned stores. The bid process was significantly over-subscribed and, after careful consideration of all offers, the company announced that they had chosen to accelerate the growth of the nationwide vehicle servicing network through franchising rather than via management buyout.

3rd September 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

HiQ Experiences “High Level” of Franchise Interest

Mark Brickhill, the group managing director of Goodyear Dunlop, has released a statement commenting on the “high level of interest from ambitious businesses wanting to join us in investing in the future growth of HiQ” following the announcement of the company’s plan to sign long-term franchise agreements. The move towards longer franchises comes as a manoeuvre that will prevent a proposed management buyout from taking place, while also extending the scheme that has seen great success in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Brickhill continued, stating that since the announcement of the extension of the franchising system to all parent-owned HiQ sites in England and Wales, many businesses had applied to join the scheme: “On the closing date (May 16th) we had more bidders than the total number of franchise regions. This puts us in a strong position to make choices that ensure we have committed franchisees on board who share our vision in strengthening the network.”

27th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Dunlop Launches Health and Safety Plan After Accident

Goodyear Dunlop has announced the launch of a global health and safety plan after a worker was injured in an accident at the company’s Wolverhampton plant. Goodyear Dunlop pleaded guilty to breaching the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act in a hearing before Birmingham magistrates at the beginning of August. The manufacturer was fined £13,500 and ordered to pay £2,888.04 in costs plus £4000 in damages.

Goodyear Dunlop’s main response has come in the form of it new “No one gets hurt” plan, which includes safety awareness training, and risk assessments that are designed to lead to improvements in processes and equipment usage. “[Goodyear Dunlop] has a positive commitment towards health and safety and continues to strive towards a culture and environment in which all its employees can work safely. We will learn from the findings of this case and continue to improve towards achieving our objective of No-one Gets Hurt,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

14th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

HiQ Unveils New Cornwall Regional Franchise Owner

St Austell tyre trade expert, Justin Roberton, has rubber-stamped a deal to own three fast fit centres in Cornwall, after his ambitious bid for a slice of a national franchise plan was accepted. Roberton has successfully applied for the Cornwall zone of the HiQ Franchise Programme, and will now run garages in Truro, Bodmin, and St Austell.

The regional manager is only the second man to be unveiled as a HiQ regional franchise owner following the decision by Goodyear Dunlop to group its existing, company-owned HiQ outlets into 15 regional zones.

5th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Mistaken Identity?

Is not even the tyre industry safe from cybersquatting? Tyres & Accessories was recently surprised by its attempts to view Dunlop’s UK website. Upon entering the address www.dunlop-tyres.co.uk, instead of viewing the expected Dunlop homepage, we found ourselves face to face with the website of rival tyremaker Michelin. Additionally, a search under www.dunlop.co.uk was equally unfruitful. The website is registered in the name of Essex based man named David Dunlop, and is reportedly available for purchase.

A representative from Goodyear Dunlop has pointed out that the correct website address for the company’s UK Dunlop site is www.dunloptyres.co.uk.

24th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Dunlop Embark on Charity Tour de Midlands

Thirteen employees of Goodyear Dunlop are staging a four-day, 320-mile endurance cycle ride to benefit Birmingham Children’s Hospital. The challenge will start from the company’s head office in Erdington on 18th September, and will see riders raising much-needed funds for the leading medical facility.

The manufacturer pledged to raise £50,000 to fund the development of a specialist play area for the Childhood and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) at the hospital earlier in the year, a target the company is on track to meet, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the firm’s thirteen Lance Armstrongs and Victoria Pendletons.

23rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Chris Kisby Wins Bid for 3 Regional HiQ Tyre Retail Franchises

Former HiQ Retail Director, Chris Kisby, has successfully bid for the South Midlands, East Midlands and West Midlands zones of the HiQ Franchise Programme. Kisby, who has 30 years experience in the tyre industry, leads an investment group who have been named as the preferred bidder for the region. He will step down from his current role of Goodyear Dunlop UK Director, Consumer Tyres with immediate effect to avoid any conflict of interest.

The announcement follows the news that a management buyout led by HiQ MD Neil Burrows and three other managers was not successful in its bid for a national retail franchise. According to a Goodyear representative, Kisby’s investment group operates independently of the quartet that proposed the management buyout. Prior to becoming Director Consumer Tyres, Chris Kisby held a number of key positions within the Goodyear group including UK Sales and Marketing Director, European Brand Director and Managing Director for Russia, Belarus and Central Asia, as well as leading the HiQ Retail network.

23rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Dunlop Names New Market Supply Chain Director

Goodyear Dunlop has promoted Market Planning Manager, Steve Carless, to Market Supply Chain Director – UK and Ireland. Market Supply Chain Director is a new role that has reportedly been created to improve effectiveness, reduce costs and give superior customer satisfaction. The new role’s main responsibilities will include order management, forecasting, warehousing and the Sales and Operating Plan process.

Steve Carless started with the company as an Undergraduate Trainee in Marketing in 1993. After graduating in Mathematical Business Analysis from Wolverhampton University, a year later, he rejoined the company. Carless began his career after graduation as a Market Analyst, moving into Sales for the Truck Tyre department as well as experiencing roles in the company’s Luxembourg offices covering Marketing and Sales Forecasting.

22nd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Truck Force Turns a Corner

Goodyear Dunlop’s detractors would have the truck tyre market believe that there are serious problems in the company’s commercial vehicle department. Goodyear Dunlop UK, managing director, Mark Brickhill, however, paints quite a different picture. In a recent interview with Tyres & Accessories (to be published in our August magazine) Brickhill gave details of progress in the truck business. Firstly, Brickhill told T&A that Truck Force is already showing signs of being a turnaround success story.

Since the commercial vehicle retail arm separated from the HiQ passenger retail business, and the two chains were each allowed to follow strategies tuned to the respective business areas, both operations appear to be better off. Perhaps the best sign of this is the fact that Truck Force, which was once a significantly loss making operation, is now at breakeven and on schedule to enter profit in 2009. But this doesn’t tell the whole story. From Mark Brickhill’s point of view, the fact that Truck Force has evolved into a service-led operation has had much to do with its improved performance.

21st July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Brickhill: Supporting Employees in the Community Drives Success

Goodyear Dunlop UK Group Managing Director, Mark Brickhill, has reinforced the company’s commitment to community projects, and has encouraged all employers to seek the benefits that come from supporting their employees in voluntary activity.

Brickhill was speaking following a garden party at Buckingham Palace in honour of the centenary of the Territorial Army which was attended by 6000 guests, including the HRH The Earl of Wessex and HRH The Princess Royal. Over four hundred TA Reservists were invited along to pay tribute to their employers by taking them to this very special event. The Goodyear Dunlop MD had been invited by John Braybrook, Wholesale Manager for the company, who returned from TA assignment in Afghanistan last year.

18th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Dunlop Makes Six-Figure Investment in Wolverhampton Site

Goodyear Dunlop Tyres has announced that further ‘substantial’ investment will be made in its Wolverhampton truck tyre retreading facility. The company has just taken delivery of two new state of the art SDS Shearography Machines, representing a six-figure investment.

The Wolverhampton factory, which employs over 400 people, is home to the company’s Next Tread operations, which specialises in retreading used truck tyre casings. The company states its latest investment will add to the high quality levels of the company’s Next Tread products.

3rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors