Following the successful launch of its Bourne retail facility in April, family-owned tyre retail group BA Bush & Son and its wholesale arm B.A.B. Distribution – a member of Grouptyre, the UK’s leading independent tyre wholesaler – has invested in a new, purpose-built retail centre in Spalding, south Lincolnshire.
Opening on September 21, the fifteenth Bush Tyres retail outlet is conveniently located off the Peterborough to Boston road and is just a minute from Spalding town centre. Most importantly , the prime site is opposite the Springfields Shopping Outlet and Festival Gardens, which is one of Lincolnshire’s busiest shopping centres, incorporating over 60 stores selling famous fashion and homewares brands at discounted prices all year round and attracting in excess of 30,00 visitors a day.
“We have been planning to move into Spalding for some years, but took the time to acquire the ideal site and develop a facility that will offer a retail experience akin to that which people receive in the High Street,” says director Thomas Bush.
“The new Spalding centre is one of the flagship retail facilities within the group and will provide a first class service to customers, who will be able to drop off their cars and then head over to Springfields to do their shopping while we fit tyres and carry out any other work required.”
The two-storey Spalding facility is visually impressive, with a bridge linking two key areas of the site and a large, ultra-modern, glass reception area with widescreen TVs and comfortable seating. A dedicated entrance and exit ensure safe, easy access to the centre, which features numerous tyre fitting bays and is equipped with the latest alignment and fitting machines.
At night Bush Tyres will be distinguished by its neon signage, while the totem poles on the two nearby roundabouts that link the A151 and A16 make the centre highly visible to approaching motorists. In addition to new tyres, balancing and puncture repairs, the Spalding facility sells alloy wheels and provides brakes, batteries, exhausts and wheel and suspension alignment services.
While most tyre fitting businesses tend to stock between 200 and 1,000 tyres, Bush Tyres in Spalding has been purpose-built with the capacity to stock 5,000 tyres, comprising the most popular brands and patterns to meet local market needs and including all the major brands plus value brands Maxxis and Federal, which are exclusive to sister company B.A.B Distribution through its membership of Grouptyre. The centre is expected to handle large volumes of truck, tractor and industrial tyres in order to meet the requirements of local hauliers and truck fleets as well as the area’s farming community.
To date the initiative has created five new jobs, but Thomas Bush believes additional opportunities should arise fairly quickly as the company expects the facility to build business and expand rapidly. Russ DeBarr, who has worked for Bush Tyres for many years and was previously in charge of the retail centre in Long Sutton, takes over as retail manager at Spalding and will be supported by a experienced tyre industry manager who has just joined the firm. There will also be some internal restructuring to maintain continuity of service and high standards of customer care throughout the group.
Bush Tyres is a fourth generation family concern which this year celebrates sixty years in business. Originally a cycle tyre company set up by Benjamin Arthur Bush, the firm has grown to become a major provider of tyre, battery, brakes and exhaust services throughout Lincolnshire, Humberside and East Yorkshire. It is owned and managed by the founder’s grandson, Nigel Bush, and his sons Ben and Thomas and employs some 150 staff.
