Dene Arnold has been appointed as Merityre managing director effective July 2022, having worked with the company for over 40 years where he started as a tyre fitter.
Specifically, Dene Arnold will move from his current position as general manager and executive director to the of role managing director. Arnold will be takes over from Noel Pope who will become chairman. Both Noel Pope and his brother Jolyon will remain as executive directors of the company.
The UK Garage and Bodyshop Event at the Birmingham NEC hosted the finale of Autogem’s inaugural TPMS Expert competition on Wednesday, 8 June. 12 regional finalists assembled on Autogem’s stand to demonstrate their problem-solving skills in front of hundreds of onlookers, including a judging panel of industry experts. Merityre’s Liam Gaynor was crowned TPMS Expert (large retailer) with Hometyre’s Craig Schwartz taking the small retailer award, while all 12 finalists were commended for detecting various TPMS faults quickly and efficiently, communicating them clearly to the panel. Meanwhile Autogem, which has developed the TPMS Expert award over the past few years to help raise standards and awareness about tyre pressure monitoring systems, has been praised by automotive retail bosses and industry experts for its first nationwide competition.
This year the top 25 table has been characterised by growth virtually across the board. However, something that stands out in positions 15 to 25 is that there have been a couple of new entries onto the ranking in addition to this. Exemplifying stability in the market, In ‘n’ Out Autocentres appears to have remained in 15th position with 27 branches.
Merityre is celebrating a hat trick of industry award wins this year, which honoured the tyre retailer for its service and retail excellence. The company, which has over 20 branches across the south of England, Merityre picked up two gongs at the National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) Tyre Industry Awards including the Medium Tyre Retailer of the Year and overall Tyre Retailer of the Year awards.
The National Tyre Distributors Association has presented a bumper crop of awards during its 92nd Annual Dinner in Birmingham. In the headline awards, Merityre was made the Overall Tyre Retailer of the Year, sponsored by Pirelli Tyres, Bridgestone took first place in Tyre Manufacturer of the Year, sponsored by The Commercial Vehicle Show, while Stapleton’s Tyre Services became 2021’s Tyre Wholesaler of the Year, sponsored by Compilator / Team Systems. Tyrepress reported the announcement of the award winners, in addition to the day’s Tyre Industry Conference, live via Twitter.
As can be seen in the top 10 table published yesterday, Halfords Autocentres remains in second place nationally in our 2021 ranking of the UK’s largest retail operations by branch count. Continuing our three-article series on this subject, today’s instalment focuses on places 11 to 20 and finds that the medium to large sized positions are increasingly being taken by autocentre style businesses that make as much money from parts and repairs as they do from tyres (and more than traditional fast fits).
We’ve all had to adapt during the corona-crisis and lockdown. For many tyre retailers it has meant agonising decisions relating to either staying opening or shutting down. But some have found a middle way – mobile tyre fitting.
During our recent “Kick-starting your tyre business” Tyrepress webinar, Craig Sprigmore, retail director of HiQ; Graham Mitchell, wholesale director of Micheldever Tyre Services; Noel Pope, managing director of Merityre; and John Stone, founder and managing director of Stone Tyres discussed the role of mobile fitting in helping tyre businesses adapt to the new normal.
Tyre distributors from across the country have come together to support the restarting of the tyre trade. Large and small retailers from St Helens to the South East worked together to produce the inaugural Tyrepress webinar entitled “Kick-starting your tyre business’.
In last year’s ranking of the top tyre retailers in the UK, Tyres & Accessories predicted that the pace of change in the top 20 chains by branch count would result in some jostling for position. This has proved entirely accurate, as two major acquisitions have brought two of 2017’s top 20 into the fold of higher ranked companies, leading to both Micheldever/Protyre, leapfrogging HiQ into fourth place as predicted last year, and Lodge Tyre, into the top 10 from joint-14th last year, making significant jumps in this year’s table. Most other retailers have held relatively stable positions in terms of the number of stores, while our most recent additions to the table, Eden Tyres (15 stores) and Elite Garages (13) were identified as narrowly missing out on places last year.
Merityre Specialists Ltd held their charity car show at their Andover, Hampshire branch on 30 July 2017, raising over £1,000 for a local charity.
According to the company, the sun shone as Merityre’s main warehouse yard steadily filled up with an array of over 50 cars, including a life-size model of Mater from the Disney Pixar’s Cars franchise, a hillclimb champion Ginetta G33 and a classic Ferrari 308 GTB, alongside a real mix of show cars, modified cars and classic cars. The promise of ‘something for everyone’ stood true, as enthusiasts young and old enjoyed the selection on display.
Merityre Specialists Limited is a tyre retailer and fast-fit business that operates 24 branches across southern England, offering a range of tyre services along with quality independent vehicle servicing. Formed in 1961, for over 50 years the company has striven to offer service that exceeds expectation. This focus on quality and development has recently seen a number of Merityre Specialists branches become fully accredited Klarius emissions centres – offering a higher level of technical proficiency and type-approved quality Klarius emissions components to motorists.
Merityre Specialists Limited, Sunbury on Thames said that its status as Tyre Retail Centre of the Year, presented to the company at the National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) annual awards, was reward for its hard work. The centre also stated that the support it receives as a Pirelli Performance Centre (PPC) has helped it to achieve its high standards.
The winners of the 2015 Tyre Industry Awards were announced during the 86th NTDA Annual Dinner on 1 October following the new one-day Tyre Industry Conference at the International Convention Centre (ICC), Birmingham. Attendance at the dinner set a new record, with 60 tables sold out. The speaker and presenter of the awards was former England Rugby Union international, amateur dancer and current television pundit, Austin Healey, who added some trademark irreverence to proceedings. The Awards were also live-tweeted as they were announced on the @Tyrepress Twitter feed. The awards were sponsored this year by Sailun Tyres.
Merityre Little Chalfont in Buckinghamshire is the latest Pirelli Performance Centre to receive an upgrade. The LED reception upgrades have been fitted to the waiting areas of selected Pirelli Performance Centres, in a scheme that will be rolled out across more of Pirelli’s most prestigious dealers in the future.
Autogem
Bush Tyres
Merityre
Eden Tyres
John Stone; Stone Tyres; Gorilla tyres