At a time when many businesses are contracting and cutting staff to reduce their outgoings, tyre retail group BA Bush & Son and its wholesale operation B.A.B. Distribution, which is a member of the UK’s leading independent wholesaler Grouptyre, is investing in a new retail facility.
The family concern, which this year celebrates sixty years in business, opened its fourteenth retail tyre depot in Bourne, Lincolnshire, at the end of April, creating a number of new jobs in the local community.
In response to growing demand, Benjamin Arthur Bush’s established cycle tyre business began selling and fitting car tyres just before World War Two and by 1947 BA Bush & Son was fitting tyres to all kinds of vehicle. Today the company is owned and managed by Benjamin’s grandson Nigel and great-grandsons Ben and Tom and employs some 150 people.
“We always aim to reinvest profits in the company and are taking advantage of economic conditions to implement an aggressive growth strategy designed to increase our market share throughout Lincolnshire, Humberside and East Yorkshire by providing unrivalled levels of customer service,” says director Tom Bush.
“For many years we have met the needs of customers in Bourne from our Boston and Sleaford branches, so it was logical to develop a stand alone facility, albeit linked to and fully integrated within our retail operation, which would enable us to provide a more comprehensive and better quality of service to customers in this area.”
The new two-storey Bush Tyres depot is located in the centre of Bourne, just off the main road to Spalding, and stocks an extensive range of 4×4, high performance, van, agricultural, implement and turf tyres. In addition to balancing and puncture repairs the facility also sells alloy wheels and provides brakes, exhausts and suspension alignment services.
BA Bush & Son prides itself on having assembled a strong and loyal workforce, several of whom have been employed by the company for over 25 years, and always prefers to promote from within its ranks. Steve Waterfall, who has 23 years’ service and was previously service manager at the Bush Tyres depot in Boston, has been appointed manager at Bourne and will run the new centre with a team of six once all staff training has been completed.
The company aspires to delivering product availability and service levels akin to those of a luxury car dealership and Steve is confident that the new depot, with its large, informal reception area and refreshments, will exceed customer expectations.
He says: “Many people still consider buying tyres to be an unpleasant necessity, but at Bush Tyres we have set about changing the image of the industry one site at a time. We have assembled a team that will deliver a professional, positive experience, ensuring our customers are able to make informed decisions in a welcoming environment.”
BA Bush & Son is continuing to invest in the development and expansion of its business and plans to open a new, purpose-built tyre retail centre – the fifteenth within the group – in Spalding in July/August.
Contact Bush Tyres in Bourne on 01778 395660 or visit www.bushtyres.co.uk
