New  TYRE  PLAYER EMERGES
	Quality control ensures the highest standards are adhered to at all stages of manufacture.

Leader Tread has awakened from what seemed to us a gentle slumber but was in reality a preparation of a battle plan for a new onslaught on the South Africa trucking market. And the plan that has been formulated is one which should bring smiles to the faces of all truckers out there reports Patrick O'Leary.

As is well known, Leader Tread conducted its former activities by merely supplying tread to independent tyre retreaders around the country. The word 'merely' is perhaps the wrong word for it undermines the impact the company made by going this route. However, the point remains that while it provided the market with world-class quality treads, it did not get involved with the end user - the truck operator.

That has now changed. The company is now going full guns to get close to the transport operator and along with this new strategy, an umbrella organisation under which its activities will be conducted has been created. Called Leader Tyre Services, it is this name which will drive the organisation forward into a new era.

In line with the new strategy to interface with truckers, Leader Tyre Services has in place a national sales team whose duty it is to visit operators and advise on their tyre needs and problems. A full range of products, activities and services has also been designed specifically to add value to the relationship.

All this would come to nil, however, if there was not a national network of established retreaders and service outlets situated close to the operators. To this end, Leader Tread has harnessed the power of the independents by linking them together under the banner of Leader Tyre Services in a type of franchise operation.

Have to make a choice
Guy Baker of Leader Tyre Services, spells out the rationale: "The independent retreader is, by nature, an entrepreneur and we do not want to lose this spirit for it is one which embraces the concept of professional service. However, the days of the independents are numbered and they can no longer sit on the fence. They have to make a choice.

"The global business environment, of which South Africa is now very much a part, is driving the trend towards mergers and alliances and this has presented a threat to the independents. We have now offered these businesses the opportunity to become part of a bigger group where not only will they be assured of a secure future but will also be able to enhance their service offerings to the market."

These outlets will not only adopt the Leader Tyre Services branding but also its philosophies thus giving operators recognisable and standardised levels of service on a national basis. Cross-border operators can also take comfort in the fact that outlets have also been established in Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.

Interesting is that this company is well aware of the spirit of the independent having been a family owned concern since its inception in 1964 when John Sproson came down from Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) to set up Regent Tyre Services in Johannesburg. He and his father, Jim, had been in the retreading business up north since the mid 1950s.

Exporter of note
Today, with sons Mark and Brett Sproson heading the operations of the company, it is a far cry from those early days. Not only is the company a leading player on the local market but is also an exporter of note having installed retreading plants in other countries in Africa as well as in Europe and the Middle East. These plants operate under license to Leader Tread S.A.

"However, while we have developed into a significant international player, we remain a South African business committed to our local market. We've been in this region since the 1950s and we're not going anywhere.

"We do, however, want to use our wide level of experience and skills to enhance the life of the truck operator and that is why we are now extending our services under the Leader Tyre Services brand," says MD Mark Sproson.

More competition brings the operator a wider choice - and that can only be healthy for the market.