Page 24 - CTB N11 - 2015-03

RETREADING
Centurion Retreads Looks to Expand by the End of the Year
The UK’s newest retreader is Centurion Retreads, which is based in the Lancashire town of Leyland. The company, which achieved its ECE 109 certification as recently as February this year, is part of the Chorley-based tyre dealership, Steve Lister Tyres, which has been active in the commercial tyre sector in the North-West of England since 2001. The company is currently manufacturing around eighty tyres a week at its compact retreading plant, but is looking to move to new, expanded facilities by the end of the year, so that it can expand its sales in the retreading sector.
According to Managing Director Steve Lister, Centurion Retreads
from Grumac, Avon, and Vipal. According to Lister, the construction market is a key target area for future development, with half the company’s retread business being already in this area. Until now Centurion has been typically dealing with smaller fleets with approximately half a dozen vehicles, so they are strong on personal contact. However, Lister admits that many of the company’s retread customers so far have been focused on the economy sector, so he is keen to develop increased amounts of premium fleet business. That said, Lister professes himself to be pleased with the performance of the Eversafe tread rubber. “We are
Despite the competition, Centurion Retreads has quickly outgrown its existing plant, and is now looking to set up a bigger, more efficient plant so the operation can expand. The company has bought a new
buffer and builder in readiness for this and expects to be in new facilities by the end of the year. Lister also plans to install a monorail system to make operations more efficient.
was founded due to demand created by the company’s retail site in Chorley, which has historically carried out significant numbers of major repairs in its 11-tyre autoclave used exclusively for repairs. Says Lister; “The retread business was originally established in order to allow us to provide a retreading service to existing fleet customers, so we’ve been operating a little under the radar in the early stages. Now, however, we are looking to develop the retread side of the business.”
Centurion mainly uses Eversafe pre-cured treads from Malaysia but also buys from Maxrubber. Vipal patches are also used. The factory was set up with help
able to show that a Chinese casing with Eversafe tread performs better than the new Chinese tyres,” he says.
Lister admits that the competition provided by Chinese new tyres is a challenge. “It’s true that if they weren’t around we’d be very busy,” he says. Competition, he points out, is mostly against new tyres – not against other retreaders, mainly because many tipper fleets are now buying directly from China. Despite this the company does see some competition from Bandag Protread. “We are currently trying to do some comparisons between Protread and Eversafe, and we are confident Eversafe will do better,” says Lister.
24 Commercial Tyre Business