Kirkby Tyres has invested 3.5 million euros in moving to new, larger premises in Dublin, Republic of Ireland in a move that was completed on Wednesday 21 July 2021. According to the company, “Kirkby Tyres Ireland operations serves all geographical areas in Ireland” and made the investment due to “increased sales activities and opportunities”.
June marks 50 years since Dublin business Auto Tyre Services was formed in 1971 by the late Kieran Maher. Kieran Maher remained managing director of the company until he passed away in 2017. Over the years, the company has retained a strong reputation for supply and service in the earthmover, implement, agricultural and industrial sector.
Northern Ireland-based Kerr’s Tyres Group has bought MW Tyres & Exhausts for an undisclosed sum. MW Tyres & Exhausts has been rebranded as MW Tyres & Auto and will now offer the 24/7 365 UK & Ireland coverage offered by Kerr’s Tyres Group. As a result of the acquisition, Kerrs Group now operates from 12 sites in Northern Ireland and four sites in the Greater Dublin region. Look out for our May edition to see how this affects Kerr’s Tyres’ position in our annual tyre retail ranking.
Mike Leedham has been appointed as the new off-the-road (OTR) Sales Manager for Continental Tyre Group. Leedham will be responsible for developing Continental’s OTR business in the UK and Ireland, as the company continues the development of its earthmover tyres, launched to the market in 2016.
BFGoodrich has appointed Kevin Burke Tyres (KBT) as its distribution partner in Ireland. KBT will therefore stock “a large selection” of the brand’s tyres throughout the year in its large warehouse facility in Athenry, County Galway.
GRI has been in partnership with First Industrial Tyres (FIT) for over 10 years where the two companies have worked together in the aftermarket distribution of GRI material handling tyres in the UK. Now that FIT has expanded into Eire with operations in Dublin, so has the GRI distribution deal.
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.
According to the Tyre Recovery Association (TRA), the Republic of Ireland’s proposed tyre compliance scheme, which is due to come into effect on 1 October, will “seriously distort end of life tyre recovery and recycling efforts on the island of Ireland with knock-on-effects in the UK as a whole”.
Bartec Auto ID Limited (Bartec), the British manufacturer of tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS), has announced the appointment of David Jones as its new UK and Irish salesperson.
Jones brings a wealth of diagnostic experience to the Barnsley-based, family-run company, following established roles with Nebula Systems and Euro Car Parts, and he joins the TPMS experts at a crucial time, as this year marks the first when vehicles, due their first MOT test, will be entering workshops with TPMS installed as mandatory. Legislation passed in 2014 stipulated that TPMS would be part of the annual MOT test and that all vehicles will have TPMS installed as standard.
Pirelli has named Tractamotors in Cavan, Ireland as 4×4 Key Dealer of the Year award, for its focus on excellence in customer service. This is the second year Pirelli has provided this award to one of its exclusive 4×4 Key Dealer Club member tyre dealers. Each dealer nominated a depot and was then subjected to three independently run mystery shop audits by phone. Judging took into account everything from the way a call was answered and time taken to answer, to general attitude over the phone and product knowledge.
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.
Cycling products distributor Extra UK has announced it will act as the exclusive distributor of Pirelli’s new PZero Velo tyre range in the UK and Ireland.
Pirelli recently announced its return to the cycling tyre market with three versions of its PZero tyres: silver for road racing, red for time trial and blue for four-season use. The new tyre range was announced in May.
Westlake tyres has partnered with The Irish Drift Championship (IDC) 2017 and says it will “cooperate with drifters to bring amazing shows for all the visitors”.
“Westlake Tyres are pleased to partner the Irish Drift Championship for the 2017 season. The IDC has some of the best drivers from around the globe and they compete at the highest level. Westlake Europe plays a big role in marketing the brand for all our tyre products and aligning Westlake tyre with top championships gives us the perfect opportunity to show-case our motorsport range,” said Chris Carpenter, a partner of Westlake Tyres in Europe.
Following reports of different distribution arrangements in England and wales, Apaseal representatives recently contacted Tyres & Accessories in order to clarify that Apaseal is in fact the exclusive distributor of Corghi in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, a role it has successfully maintained – and indeed grown – for over 40 years.
Kirkby Tyres
Continental
Auto Tyre Service
Continental