The organisers of Brityrex, ECI International, have thanked exhibitors and visitors for their role in the latest show held at EventCity, Manchester 9-11 October. According to the company, Brityrex visitor numbers increased 5 per cent compared to the 2010 exhibition, with footfall growing to 2435 visitors.
Members and guests at the 83rd annual NTDA dinner raised more than £10,000 for BEN, the dedicated charity for the automotive industry. £6,600 was raised in two charity auctions conducted by the guest speaker and former England rugby union international, Martin Bayfield. The first auction piece was an all-expenses paid trip for two to Dubai donated by the Al Dobowi Group, which raised £6,000; the second was an electric Mercedes XL children’s car sponsored by Mercedes Benz Finance. Donations made in envelopes by members and guests took the total into five figures.
Apart from the new venue, something else that you will quickly notice about this year’s Brityrex (which kicks off in just over a week's time) is the addition of a series of Tyre Talk seminars, designed to inform and provide a forum for discussion about some of the most pressing issues of the day.
Former NTDA president and BMTR chairman Don Smith died recently at the age of 89.
Don Smith’s long and influential tyre career began after the war, when he took over the running of the family business – Birmingham Motor Tyre Repository, one of the longest established tyre businesses in the country – from his father, J. J. Smith. He was a staunch supporter of the NTDA, and was the association’s president in 1969. Later he was appointed an honorary member and also served as a trustee of the association in the early nineties.
This year's Tyre & Fast Fit Awards are proving as popular as ever, with votes reaching the NTDA thick and fast, both by post and online. Voting ends on 14 September, so if you haven't yet voted for the main categories click on the link below, or copy this link into your address bar: http://www.ntda.co.uk/taff_voting_form.html.
To kick off the Annual Tyre Safety Week, the Northern Ireland region of the National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) is promising a dramatic demonstration of the importance of fitting the right tyre when the weather turns wintry.
Following the success of 2011’s event, Westlake Tyres once again sponsored the NTDA Annual Golf Day which was held at the world renowned The Belfry, four times host of the Ryder Cup and several European Tour events.
Linglong Tyres, manufactured by Shandong Linglong Tyre, China’s third largest tyre producer, recently supported the automotive industry charity BEN at the Lynwood Summer Fete held at the end of June.
The Al Dobowi Group has announced that it is to sponsor Virginia Espejo; a 23-year old rising star in the sport of golf. The company says that it was impressed by the potential of Virginia, who immediately became hooked on golf after starting to play alongside her father at the age of twelve.
Conti is working to enhance the efficiency of the roadside breakdown service it provides to commercial vehicle operators and hauliers through its Conti360° fleet service network. The manufacturer reports the development of a series of bespoke roadside training courses for its Conti360° network partners, which it believes will help raise safety standards among tyre fitters and promote best practice in attending roadside breakdowns. The three levels of training course are designed to equip the Conti360° network with improved tyre fitting expertise and allow its partners to gain the industry-approved NTDA REACT Roadside Breakdown Licence, which is now mandatory for all NTDA members engaged in roadside maintenance or repairs.
Nominations for the 2012 TAFF awards subject to public vote are now closed, but according to the NTDA all trade supplier are being invited to nominate a product or service for inclusion in the 2012 TAFF Innovation Awards. The current holder is Rema Tip Top for their Ram Rod tyre cage.
American comedian Dan Nainan will perform at the 2012 NTDA-Westlake Golf Day gala dinner, to be held at the world famous The Belfry on 2 August 2012. According to the event’s sponsors, the event has proved so popular that it has nearly sold out already. The event will take place at the prestigious Belfry Golf Club, which has been host of the Ryder Cup four times.
When it comes to legislation affecting the tyre industry it is a tug of war between “rules are rules” and “rules are made to be broken.” As readers of our Tyrepress.com e-Newsletter will already know, the events of recent weeks have provided us with some bizarre examples of this kind of contrary logic in action. When Carl Steele from Lincolnshire was found guilty of causing in excess of a quarter of million pounds worth of environmental damage during a two year tyre dumping stint, you could be forgiven for thinking the justice system would force him to pay his debt to society.
Bond International has announced that it will promote its portfolio of six exclusive UK distributorships for brands including Marshall, Infinity, Admiral, Jinyu, Sailun and Rotalla at October’s Brityrex exhibition in Manchester. Pocklington, York-based Bond said that it intends to make a significant impact at the show, with a “major stand” designed to deliver “maximum effect”.
At the end of February the National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) announced that it had appointed a new national chairman to its board of executive officers. The incumbent is Stephen Callow, managing director of Callow Car Care Ltd., who takes over from David White formerly of Kwik Fit. White, who announced that he was stepping down as Kwik Fit Group customer services director in November 2011, said at the time that he was planning to leave the company to “explore opportunities outside the business.” This decision was set to take effect at the end of March 2012 and naturally led to the appointment of a new chairman. Tyres & Accessories met with the new NTDA chairman in mid-March to offer congratulations and get an impression of the association’s direction from here on in.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
