Bandvulc Reveals Group Expansion Plans

Despite UK-based retreader Bandvulc having experienced success and growth in the German market with their Wastemaster tyre, the group is now looking to maintain and develop its strong market position over the next year.

During 2010 the firm developed partnerships with several German city councils namely Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, who fit Bandvulc's Wastemaster MKIII tyres on their refuse collection vehicles. The short term goal for the group is to strengthen its position in Germany by developing relationships with more city councils, according to Bandvulc Director Richard O'Connell. This can be made possible by the stringent testing and research and development that Bandvulc employs with all of its tyres, thereby ensuring continuous improvement of its product line, increasing the likelihood of further local authority partnerships in the future.

As well as expanding its portfolio of partnerships with German city councils, Bandvulc sees room for growth for BTC (Bandvulc Tyre Contracts), Bandvulc's fleet management operation with large independent businesses and smaller fleets. The European Sales Development Manager, Phillip Arnold, is now permanently based in Germany to administer the company's activities in the region.

Further along the line O'Connell sees Bandvulc building a distribution depot in Germany in order to remedy the difficulty in collecting casings from the country. The Bandvulc group has also continued to fare well in Ireland, Greece and Georgia. Trade has remained busy for the firm in Northern Ireland with distributor Kerr's Tyres, and despite difficult economic conditions in Greece, Bandvulc is still proving to be competitive by maintaining its level of sales achieved over past years. Moreover, the company's good tyre performance has attracted reliable clients and continuous custom. Further expansion in Georgia is possible in the foreseeable future.

Moving on, the group also announced making its first venture into Poland by highlighting its partnership with retail giant Tesco, whose operations in Teresin near Warsaw will use Bandvulc retreads. Agreements with large "blue-chip" companies like Tesco now form an integral part of the group's marketing strategy. Closer to home, the group has been investing in its tyre service network "Tyre Maintenance", which forms part of Bandvulc Tyre Contracts.

According to Richard O'Connell, "Tyre Maintenance" has 4 distribution centres located in Gateshead, Leeds, Lutterworth and Luton. As far as the domestic market is concerned, Richard O'Connell feels that the UK retread market is relatively saturated, but there may be some scope for expansion at the expense of some of the pre-cure sector. In addition to the group's overseas developments, Bandvulc have also announced it is due to launch a new lowrolling resistance tyre called "Dynamic" which is currently going through their stringent testing procedures.

(Issue 2011/2)