Page 25 - CTB n6 - 2014-02

NEWS EXTRA
The Structure of the UK Retread Market
The UK market is, unlike some European markets, dominated by a few very large players. This is, in fact, one of the reasons why the mould cure process of retreading is so prevalent, making up over 80% of the market. Ireland on the other hand is dominated by pre- cured retreading (primarily Bandag). Overall, there are less than thirty retreaders covering the whole of the UK and Ireland.
So who are these companies and how can they be contacted? Among the largest retreaders in the UK are the tyre manufacturer themselves, who, of course, market their retread products via their own truck tyre marketing departments. The UK’s largest retreader by some way is Michelin, who produce tyres in two factories at Stoke-on-Trent. Michelin casings are retreaded in the Remix plant, whilst other brands of casing are retreaded using the Encore process at another plant on the same site. Goodyear also has its own retreading facility at Wolverhampton, whilst
Bridgestone has its own retreading subsidiary, Bulldog Remoulds, who are located at Bourne in Lincolnshire. As well as manufacturing Bridgestone mould cure retreads, Bulldog is also among the network of Bandag franchised retreaders.
The two largest independent retreaders, both producing in excess of 100,000 retreads per year are Bandvulc (based in Ivybridge, Devon) and Vacu-Lug, located in Grantham. Both these companies produce largely mould cure retreads and have developed businesses that stretch beyond manufacturing into tyre wholesaling, distribution and fleet management.
The pre-cure retreading market in the UK is dominated by Bandag and Marangoni’s Ring Tread System. Both of these have a significant network of dealers.
In addition to Bulldog, Bandag’s main dealers in the UK are Caledonian (Paisley), GB Bandag (Shildon), Top Treads (Wakefield and Bromborough), Eurotreads 93 (West Bromwich), G&S
(Barking), Invicta (Ashford), Red Dragon (Pyle, Glamorgan) and Adco (Craigavon, Northern Ireland).
In the Republic of Ireland Bandag is represented by Mileage Tyre Services (Mullingar), Tyrepro (Dublin) and S Tyres (Cork). Marangoni Ringtread has a number of dealers. These include Alba Tyre Management (KIlbirnie), Freeway Retreads (Durham), Alterever (Brough, N.
Humberside), Tuf Treads (Llanelli).
In addition to these there are a number of independent retreaders, the largest of which is Truck Tyre Specialists, based in Weston super Mare. Others include Trendy Treads (Telford), Kingpin (Wem), A&B Tyres (E.London), PB Tyres (Milton Keynes), Direct Tyre Supplies (Wigan) and Condron Tyres (Tullamore, Ireland).
ALL-RIM BEAD BREAKING DEVICE - TRUCK AND BUS TYRES
TIRE SAFE LITE
TRUCK AND BUS WHEEL SAFETY CAGE
/ SERVICE // MATERIAL PROCESSING // SURFACE PROTECTION // AUTOMOTIVE RAMROD TIRESAFE LITE®
Winner - NTDA Innovation Award 2011
REMA TIP TOP BRITYREX 2014
7.-9. Oct 14 EventCity Manchester, Stand 53
The Ramrod TIRE SAFE allows the safe inflation of tyres to full working pressure whilst removing the risk of injury from catastrophic tyre failure by protecting the operator from shock wave or flying debris / The design and construction directs the expanding gasses in an upward direction, free from obstruction, before making contact with the welded labyrinth section / Manufactured from a high performance
structural steel body. Enquire too about the >>ALL-RIM Bead Breaking Device<<. Telephone 0113 2770044 → www.rema-tiptop.co.uk