Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of a brand that launched an entire automotive sector and today is familiar to every motorist up and down the land. On 16 April 1971 in McDonald Road, Edinburgh, the first ever Kwik Fit centre opened its garage doors to motorists, offering the new concept of ‘fast fit’ services, replacing components while drivers waited.
SSH Recycling Ltd has submitted a planning pre-application to Renfrewshire council in a bid to build a tyre devulcanization and processing plant in Linwood, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
The project is what the company describes as “the first of its kind in the UK” and is intended to “solve the entirety of Scotland’s waste tyre problem, using revolutionary new technology to recycle or reuse every component part of the tyre”. However, SSH’s process will support the devulcanisation of treated rubber in order to create synthetic rubber sheet, conveyor belts, shoe soles or rubber mats.
Glasgow Rangers have confirmed Tomket Tires as a new sleeve partner for the next two seasons, commencing in the 2020/21 season. Through the partnership, Tomket Tires will reportedly have “a significant presence around Ibrox” including on the interview backdrops and LED boards.
On Friday 19 June, the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) wrote to Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP to highlight the potential impact of the delay in allowing dealerships to reopen in Scotland. While dealerships could reopen on 1 June in England, 8 June in Northern Ireland and 22 June in Wales, dealers in Scotland have been given the green light from 29 June. Acting on behalf of its Scottish members, NFDA states that it has repeatedly urged the Scottish Government to consider reopening as soon as possible in view of the specific circumstances of the sector. The NFDA previously said there had been “positive trading” at dealerships in the other parts of the UK since reopening.
Michelin’s tyre plant in Dundee, Scotland has produced its last tyre. Although the facility wasn’t scheduled to close until mid-year, Michelin now says it won’t resume operations after the coronavirus crisis – indeed, it considers doing so “unviable and unwise”. The decision has been taken in agreement with the Unite union, and the company will pay plant workers all wages they’re entitled to through to the planned closure date.
Production at the Michelin tyre plant in Dundee is expected to end by the middle of this year, with around 850 jobs affected. To offset this loss, the company is relaunching its Michelin Development scheme with the aim of helping to create hundreds of jobs in Dundee and the Angus area.
Halfords Group plc bought McConechy’s Tyre Service Limited, the sixth-largest tyre retail business in the UK, on 7 November 2019 for £8.5 million. This makes the newly-expanded Halfords Autocentres the second largest tyre retailer in the UK.
A photo snapped of Prince Charles visiting the Pirelli tyre plant in Carlisle has been named Regional/Local Newspaper Rota Photo of the Year in News Media Association’s Royal Rota Photography Competition 2019. Stuart Walker took the photo for the News & Star during the Prince of Wales’ visit to the Carlisle factory in April.
RG Contracting plans to move its entire fleet onto Michelin XeoBib agricultural tyres. The Scottish farming business specified the fitments on nine new John Deere tractors, and has been pleased with the results.
Michelin has added three new Michelin Auto Professional (MAP) centres in Scotland. Abbotsinch Tyres & Exhausts, in Kilmarnock, Skidz, in Falkirk, and Stewartry Tyres Newton Stewart, based on the Creeside Industrial Estate in Newton Stewart, have all been added to the network. MAP advocate dealerships get access to free on-site staff training and participation in Michelin’s mystery shopper programme, among other advantages. Michelin will also audit the centres’ digital presence while imparting advice on maximising all online opportunities; MAPS can also access TyreAssist for their customers, protecting new Michelin or BFGoodrich tyres purchased with free 24/7 roadside assistance.
Continental Tyre Group has acquired Scottish commercial fleet servicing company R&J Strang Tyre Services Ltd. The company stated that the latest acquisition represents a further step to strengthen its overall commercial fleet service offering across the UK and Ireland.
Soltyre has gained Michelin’s agricultural seal of approval for its new Airdrie dealership, marking a major achievement for the tyre specialist with all three branches now members of the pan-European Michelin Exelagri network.
In a time when the automotive aftermarket craves consistency of supply, SRS Autoparts – based in Glasgow and Edinburgh – has invested in its availability of Mahle filtration due to “overwhelming demand” from garages.
Cockburnspath-based R&C Crichton has become the first farmer in Scotland to specify Michelin’s new RoadBib tyres – designed to provide high performance, longevity and traction on machines used intensively on the road. Jamie Crichton specified the new tyres for his high-spec JCB Fastrac 4220 after hearing positive reports from Henzell Enterprises in Northumberland, one of the contractors involved in pre-launch testing for Michelin.
SSH Recycling
Glasgow Rangers; Tomket Tires