Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon announced reviews into the MOT fiasco during a visit to DVA’s Boucher Road test centre on 28 January.
Speaking from the test centre, Minister Mallon said: “I have just been in speaking with staff here at the Boucher Road DVA centre. Staff are working tirelessly on the frontline to process priority customers and to communicate with the public. However, I have acted decisively to minimise disruption.”
Two new MOT lifts are being installed in DVA test centres in a bid to increase MOT capacity in Northern Ireland. The MOT process ground to a halt on 27 January 2020 when more 85 per cent of DVA lifts were deemed unsafe. Nevertheless, replacing MOT lifts is still likely to take months.
24 hours after all passenger car and light vehicle MOTs were halted in Northern Ireland (NI), it has emerged that replacement of the fault lifts at the centre of the crisis could take months and cost millions of pounds. Indeed, if all 55 vehicle lifts across Northern Ireland need to be replaced, with new lifts costing between £30,000 and £40,000 each (according DVA chief executive Paul Duffy quoted in multiple sources), the total cost will be between £1.65 million to £2.2 million.
Serious issues with vehicle lifts have led to all MoT tests for cars and light vehicles in Northern Ireland being suspended with immediate effect as of 27 January 2020.
Northern Ireland’s Kerr’s Tyres & Auto is investing£2.5 million in a new company HQ, featuring a distribution centre and retail centres. According to the company, the expansion project will create 20 jobs, bringing the total number of employees in the company to over 100.
Northern Ireland-based Kerr’s Tyres & Auto has acquired M & S Tyres in Enniskillen for an undisclosed sum. According to the company, the acquisition will further strengthen Kerr’s Tyres’ regional coverage. Kerr’s have retained the current staff and are recruiting further so customer service in the region can be maintained and further services introduced.
Production at the Michelin tyre plant in Ballymena, Northern Ireland came to an end last week. Although the facility won’t officially close until 30 June, The Belfast Telegraph writes that production ended last Wednesday, with the final tyre finished the following day.
Michelin has announced plans to convert part of the site of its closing Northern Ireland manufacturing plant to a business park following its sale to Silverwood Property Developments. The tyre manufacturer will complete the closure of its Ballymena plant in June, after the last tyre rolls off its production line in April, ending 50 years of manufacturing. Some of the site – reportedly around 10 acres – has been earmarked for Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, as it attempts to win its bid to host a regional Heathrow Logistics Hub, supporting proposed construction work at the West London airport.
A maximum of 125 jobs will be cut at Sensata’s factory in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland. Company representatives clarified their plans in response to earlier reports suggesting as many as 275 jobs were at risk. The latest information is that, while 275 employees have been told that their positions are “at risk”, the number of job losses will be capped at 125. A company spokesperson confirmed this in a statement in answer to Tyres & Accessories questions on the matter:
As many as 275 jobs at Sensata Technologies (formerly known as Schrader International before the TPMS sensor business was bought by Sensata) are at risk after it was announced that 125 are being axed at the factory in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland.
2 January 2018 is a very special day in the history of Ulster Tyres. 40 years ago the company was founded by husband and wife team Joe and Brighid McGinley. Joe was a director for a local tyre company and seen the opportunities in the tyre trade. Tentatively they opened the business in 1978 beside Whitehouse Motors in Ballybofey.
Addressing the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate and Environment in relation to the Waste Management (Tyres and Waste Tyres) Regulations 2017, Paddy Murphy, president of ITIA (Irish Tyre Industry Association) stated: “The tyre industry is frustrated and angry at not being heard in relation to its concerns about the successful operation of the new waste tyre scheme under the new regulations. We are now calling on the committee to nullify the regulations or make recommendations that will take into account three key issues as raised by the Industry.
Bandvulc has awarded Kerr’s Tyres & Auto exclusivity for its product range in Northern Ireland. This follows on from Kerr’s appointment at the beginning of 2017 as the sole supplier of Uniroyal TBR (truck tyres) for this region.
Kerr’s Tyres & Auto, a family-run business first established in 2002, has announced plans to invest in its current premises throughout the province with plans to open a further two additional centres over the next two years. This means investing up to £2 million in the business, creating at least 15 new jobs and a new training facility designed to help with upskilling fitters.
The new car market following Brexit, the role of dealerships, consumer legislation – including Consumer Rights Act, and the NFDA Consumer Attitude Survey, were the main topics of discussion at the NFDA meeting in Belfast. “The UK new car market may stabilise slightly in the near future, but will still be strong. Our sector has demonstrated its resilience over the past months and dealers have been coping well with recently introduced measures and unexpected challenges”, said Sue Robinson, director of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA).
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