Micheldever Group won a trio of the annual TyreSafe Awards at this year’s event at St George’s park. Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) won Wholesaler of the Year for the second consecutive year, while Protyre made it six-in-a-row for the Large Retailer of the Year accolade. The hat-trick was completed by MTS wholesale director Alan Baldwin, who was given the Lifetime Achievement Award ahead of his retirement from the industry later this year.
The winners of the 2018 “Tyre Industry Oscars” have been announced at the 89th National Tyre Distributors Association annual dinner, with a Bridgestone double in the tyre manufacturer and staff training and development categories headlining the event. More awards were added this year for excellence in tyre retail, with small, medium, and large business categories, as well as an overall winner. Presenting was television personality Mark Durden-Smith, who injected welcome energy and humour into procedings. Tyrepress also announced the results live via its Twitter feed.
In March Quantcast published data suggesting the automotive sector is missing the mark when it comes to communicating with motorists. You might think advertising campaigns focussed on themes such as “road”, “speed” and “fast” come with the territory, but the survey revealed that such clichés are actually shutting out up to half of potential customers. Why? Because such concepts are generally designed to appeal to men, despite growing purchasing power among women. Indeed, UK government data shows that car ownership among women increased 75 per cent in the 20 years up to 2014.
The business success of Westgate Tyres, achieved concurrently with raising a family and latterly while battling ill health, made Jane Bailey Foxy Lady Drivers Club’s Woman of the Year 2017. Her story, told in the Q&A below, illustrates her determination to make Westgate a success, as well as the way in which a love of cars brought her back to the tyre business, and shows the generations of her family working to make the dealer a more appealing destination for female tyre buyers.
Jane Bailey of Morecambe’s Westgate Tyres has been made the inaugural Foxy Lady Drivers Club Woman of the Year 2017. The Award acknowledges Bailey’s business story, describing her as “a rare and inspirational female role model within the tyre industry.”
TyreSafe supporters, Micheldever/Protyre, GITI Tire UK, Westgate Tyres and Chris Hardy Tyres are each providing expert tyre advice to motorists participating in Highways England’s Stop4T activities. With their help, TyreSafe is joining the emergency service and Highways England officers at 19 service stations along the M6 corridor to provide potentially life-saving road safety advice, Stop4T as part of its on-going campaign to reduce the number of casualties on Britain’s roads.
Giti Tire has thanked the GT Radial Performance Centres (GTPCs) for their support of October’s TyreSafe Tyre Safety Month. The company said that many sites in the network of retailers had undertaken an “exceptional level of activities”. Exemplifying this were Westgate Tyres in Morecambe and Ackworth Autoserv in Pontefract, which both held ladies’ safety days, […]