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Tyre News
Hi-Q to Open New £2 million Centre
New Barking Euro Car Parts Branch-Cutting Down
the Cost of Motoring
Avoid Snow Disruption by Checking Tyre Tread
Carefully Does it for ATS Euromaster
Hi-Q Franchise Network Celebrates 1st Anniversary
Kwik-Fit Fleet to Launch Vehicle Health Check
Service
Three New Venues for 2010 Maxxis ACU British
Motocross Championship
Hi-Q to Open New £2 million Centre
 A
futuristic £2 million fast fit centre in Leeds is aiming to
revolutionise the automotive car care industry in Britain
when it opens this month. The one-acre HiQ development, which
the company claims is the best of its kind in Europe, will
offer motorists an entirely new experience when taking their
vehicles in for maintenance work.
Stocking 20,000 tyres, featuring 12 bays and boasting some
of the most modern vehicle diagnostic equipment in the country,
the one acre site in Gelderd Road promises to alter age-old
perceptions of fast fit centres and remove the fear associated
with visiting them. The new outlet will be run by Franchisee
North Eastern Tyre & Exhausts, which runs 15 HiQ centres in
the north of England.
New Barking Euro Car Parts Branch-Cutting
Down the Cost of Motoring
 Euro
Car Parts (ECP) has recently opened a new branch in Barking,
in line with their continuing expansion plans. The 10,000sq
ft branch is based at Building 3 Muirhead Quay Fresh Wharf
Estate.
Donna West, director of communications at ECP commented:
"The branch offers a wide and comprehensive range of OE parts
at low prices. Everyone is looking for a good deal during
the current climate and we are helping the motorist in every
way we can. Expert parts advisors are here to help the customer
purchase anything from the right exhaust to alloy wheels,
batteries, wiper blades, filters, and all consumables.
"We are not aware of any other parts distributor offering
such as service to the consumer", she added. "If you are an
enthusiast, DIY repairer or just want to keep your car clean
and in tip top condition, we really are a one-stop shop for
all your motoring needs. "
Avoid Snow Disruption by Checking Tyre
Tread
With the Met Office predicting more snow and cold weather
in January, tyre safety organisation TyreSafe is reminding
motorists to make sure their tyres have sufficient tread depth
to keep them safe and mobile. Without adequate tread depth
in the snow, drivers may lose traction and find they are unable
to steer, brake or accelerate properly. At best this could
mean the driver is forced to abandon their car by the roadside
and at worst, could result in a serious or fatal accident.
"By taking suitable precautions before the snow falls, drivers
can continue to drive safely," explains Stuart Jackson, chairman,
TyreSafe. "In many parts of Europe, drivers do not experience
similar levels of disruption in the snow as they are more
used to checking their tyres. By making these checks today,
drivers will be much better equipped to tackle whatever weather
we experience over the next few days."
In addition to checking their tread depth, drivers can significantly
improve their safety in the winter by fitting cold weather
tyres. These are designed to operate more effectively and
provide added safety in temperatures below seven degrees Celsius.
They contain more natural rubber than standard "summer" tyres,
meaning they have extra grip in cold, wet, icy conditions,
and enable significantly shorter stopping distances.
"Cold weather tyres give drivers a major safety enhancement
over the whole winter period, not just when the snow falls,"
continues Jackson. "As they are designed to work best at temperatures
below seven degrees, they are very favourable from October
through to March so should be seriously considered by all
safety conscious motorists."
Current UK law states that tyres should have at least 1.6mm
of tread across the central three quarters of the tyre around
its entire circumference. TyreSafe recently launched its 'lifesaver
in your pocket' campaign to show drivers how to check their
tyre tread depth using a 20p coin. Drivers who fail to comply
with this legislation significantly increase their chances
of being involved in an accident but also face a fine of £2,500
and three penalty points for each illegal tyre.
Carefully Does it for ATS Euromaster
 ATS
Euromaster has become one of the first national tyre specialists
to be accredited by SAFEcontractor, an independent organisation
which assesses the health & safety competency of contractors
and service providers. Many large organisations now use SAFEcontractor
as their primary means of selecting suppliers, especially
in situations where service providers are visiting their premises
to carry out work.
Chris Hufflett, Group Operations Director at ATS Euromaster
explains: "Clients have a legal obligation to ensure that
external contractors and service providers working on their
premises operate in a safe way. This means they cannot run
the risk of employing firms which are not able to prove they
have sound health and safety policies.
"This is something which is very much top of the agenda within
ATS Euromaster, and we felt that offering SAFEcontractor accreditation
would help to highlight our rigorous health and safety best
practice to both existing and prospective customers," he adds.
Hi-Q Franchise Network Celebrates 1st
Anniversary
 The
HiQ fast fit network celebrated its 1st anniversary as a fully
franchised network recently with a strong business performance
- revealing an impressive increase in turnover, average ticket
value and retail footfall. In the first 12 months of operating
as a fully franchised operation, retail turnover is up in
double digit figures, average ticket value is up by more than
5 per cent and retail footfall has increased by more than
8 per cent.
The performance, in the context of the ongoing economic downturn,
drew praise from both Juergen Titz, HiQ Retail Director and
Goodyear Dunlop's Managing Director Mark Brickhill. But both
still stressed the need for more improvement and expansion
as HiQ celebrated its 1st anniversary at the network's 3rd
National Franchise Conference in 2009 at Albrighton Hall in
Shrewsbury.
Juergen said: "2009 has been a challenging year. But the
overall picture is that there is always room for individual
entrepreneurial performance in a recession". "Is there room
for winners in a recession? Definitely. The business performance
of the group has proven this." Juergen cited the title sponsorship
of the HiQ British Touring Car Championship and charity partnership
with Breast Cancer Care as two examples of driving footfall
and building retail demand, both of which franchisees have
embraced and used to their advantage.
Mark Brickhill added: "What the HiQ network has achieved
has been remarkable. If you look back 18 months, you would
not be able to sit in a room like this, with people like this,
boasting results like this. There is still much work to do,
but overall, great progress has been made."
Kwik-Fit Fleet to Launch Vehicle Health
Check Service
Kwik-Fit Fleet is expanding its range of services with the
New Year launch of Vehicle Health Checks to help companies
comply with duty of care legislation. A Vehicle Health Check
pilot has been running with two fleet customers and the new
service will be launched to both outright purchase fleets
and contract hire and leasing companies from January 2010.
The Vehicle Health Checks are being launched to meet fleet
customer demand to help them with their occupational road
risk management compliance obligations under health and safety
legislation.
Vehicle Health Checks will be carried out on company cars
and vans in customers' car parks and they build on client
demand for Kwik-Fit Fleet's long established Tyre Safety Checks,
which now number close on 300,000 a year. Initially, Vehicle
Health Checks will be carried out by Kwik-Fit Fleet's existing
15-strong team of tyre auditors, who carry out the Tyre Safety
Checks. However, if demand takes off during 2010 a dedicated
Vehicle Health Check team will be established which will mean
expansion of the 15-strong fleet of Ford Fiesta vans driven
by the tyre auditors and new jobs.
The checks are broken down into three separate areas: From
the driver's seat - checks on the operation of instruments,
gauges, warning lights, the horn, windscreen wipers and washers,
handbrake, air conditioning, heater fan and bonnet catch;
outside the vehicle - checks on the operation and condition
of all lights including fog and number plate lights, clean
and check front windscreen for damage; checks on the condition
and operation of front and rear wiper blades; under the bonnet
- checks on level of oil, coolant, power steering and brake
fluids, check and top up windscreen washer fluid levels, full
battery and alternator checks and a check on all hoses and
pipes for leaks. Additionally, the new service includes a
check on the condition and tread depth of all tyres and a
general condition check on the vehicle's interior and exterior.
Oil and windscreen washer fluid levels will be topped up
on site. However, if further repair and maintenance work is
required, the employer will be recommended to ensure that
the vehicle is taken into a Kwik-Fit centre as soon as possible.
Kwik-Fit Fleet operations director Simon Lucas said: "Companies
may think they have a vehicle maintenance policy in place,
but it is not being followed by drivers in many cases. "With
vehicle service intervals typically at 20,000 miles, many
company cars and vans are seen by trained technicians only
once a year or even less frequently. "That puts the onus even
more on drivers to undertake regular maintenance checks and
ensure remedial work is carried out.
However, in many cases voluntary checks are not taking place.
In piloting the Vehicle Health Checks we have already seen
a number of vehicles which have been extremely low on oil
and one car 'dry' meaning that an expensive engine blow-out
was almost certainly around the corner." When investigating
road crashes the police want answers to three questions: the
purpose of the journey; the condition of the vehicle; and
the condition of the driver.
In assessing the condition of a vehicle its maintenance history
is crucial. Investigators will be searching to discover if
any work was actually carried out or should have been carried
out on the vehicle immediately prior to the crash.
Mr Lucas said: "The onus is on drivers to identify a potential
maintenance problem and to ensure that it is then investigated
and rectified. However, we know that leaving maintenance checks
to drivers is exposing a weakness in companies' health and
safety policies, which is why we are introducing our comprehensive
Vehicle Health Check."
The cost will be £20 for the Kwik-Fit Mobile technician to
visit a site and then £20 per vehicle inspected. While initially
targeted at company cars and vans, the Vehicle Health Check
could in the future be extended to privately-owned vehicles
driven on business.
Three New Venues for 2010 Maxxis ACU British
Motocross Championship
 With
continuing Maxxis sponsorship and three new circuits on the
calendar, 2010 looks set to be a vintage year for the Maxxis
ACU British Motocross Championship. Little Silver near Exeter
is the first of the new venues and hosts the season opener
at the end of February, while Leicestershire's Mallory Park
will stage a special double header on March 21 - when motocross
action will be coupled with a road race.
In August the series visits the legendary Farleigh Castle
in Wiltshire, a circuit that has not been used for around
ten years as a Maxxis Championship event and a very welcome
addition.
The provisional 2010 calendar for the Maxxis ACU British
Motocross Championship is:
Round 1: February 28 Little Silver, Exeter
Round 2: March 21 Mallory Park, Leicestershire
Round 3: May 2 Duns, Scottish Borders
Round 4: June 13 Lyng, Norfolk
Round 5: July 25 Foxhill, Wiltshire
Round 6: August 15 Farleigh Castle, Somerset
Round 7: August 29 Landrake, Cornwall or Silverstone (TBC)
Round 8: October 3 Hawkstone Park, Shropshire
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