With staff shortages a major limitation to the growth of garages up and down the country, a number of creative approaches have been suggested to fill the staffing gap. For its part, the Lincoln branch of garage chain IN‘n’OUT Autocentres has become the latest workshop to tackle its own shortage by taking on a technician from India through Easy2Recruit.
Kumho’s first North American tyre plant is due for completion in early 2016. The facility is sited in Macon, Georgia, close to Atlanta Airport, which Kumho explains is the busiest in the world, and under 180 miles from the international port of Savannah. Kumho aims to strengthen its position globally and in the key North American market, and has invested $420 million in the factory so far. When complete, the building will cover 21 acres, and produce around four million tyres per annum. Around 90 staff are already engaged on site, a figure that will rise to 400 by the time of next year’s opening.
Three committed staff members at Lincolnshire-based BA Bush and Sons have recently hit significant long service milestones.
Wheel servicing specialist Pro-Align has been awarded a five-star rating by leading garage equipment manufacturer Hunter Engineering for the first time. Pro-Align said this reflected the significant progression and development of the Hunter brand in the UK. The company was also presented with Hunter’s “Platinum Partner” award for the ninth consecutive year, indicating the Towcester-based company as one of Hunter’s most successful and important global distributors.
While the financial context of the last five years has undoubtedly provided a challenging market environment for many players in the tyre industry, the premium garage equipment sector has seen opportunity. As tyre retailers have broadly seen margins squeezed further as consumers look to save on tyres, so has the importance of maximising ancillary services grown. On the occasion of the launch of another trail-blazing addition to its range with the Revolution tyre changer, Hunter garage machinery supplier to the UK Pro-Align took the opportunity to show Tyrepress the effects of providing innovative services to the sector.
The statutory negotiations at Nokian Tyres’ Finnish factory concerning workers and staff in car tyre production, maintenance and quality departments ended on 9 October 2014. Adjustments to production capacity utilisation as well as cost savings will be achieved mainly with temporary lay-offs and transfers to new positions. In addition, a pension plan for two employees comes into effect.
Administrator KPMG will support 1,244 Unipart Automotive staff through the redundancy process. The firm said its team of employment specialists will also put staff in touch with job seeker services. Further information on Unipart Automotive for all interested parties will also be posted on KPMG’s Insolvency Portal.
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