Tyres-4-U provides the agri sector with an unrivalled mobile tyre repair and fitting service. We travelled to the picturesque Meath village of Stamullen, on the Dublin border, and caught up with proprietor Mick McManus at his modern premises to find out more about this highly-regarded, family-run operation.
For the past eight-plus years, Tyres-4-U has been offering a thoroughly professional and dependable puncture repair and tyre fitting service, providing all the leading brands and catering for a broad spectrum of customers, from the owners of passenger cars, vans and 4x4s right through to those requiring heavy-duty tyres for tractors and agricultural machinery, trucks, plant and construction equipment.
Major brands stocked and fitted include Bridgestone, Michelin, Firestone, Dunlop, Goodyear, Hankook, Pirelli, BF Goodrich, etc. and a prompt response is guaranteed at all times. Customers receive a service that’s second to none: a Tyres-4-U mobile unit arrives at your property (or the roadside) within an hour and experienced, knowledgeable personnel will ensure that vehicles are back on the road – or land! – within double-quick time.
From their well-appointed facility in Stamullen, Tyres-4-U provide expert advice on all aspects of tyre care and offer free tyre checks, wheel balancing and disposal of old tyres. As well as being convenient and dependable, all services are also provided at the keenest possible rates. Founder Mick McManus also supplies and fits a wide range of batteries. A quick look at his Facebook page is all it takes to get an indication of the high esteem in which he’s held.
Reflecting on the genesis of the business, he notes: “I started around June or July, 2009, when I decided it was time to go out on my own. I just bought a lorry and trailer and filled it with tyres and starting to call around various depots. I built the business up from there.
“There was big demand for a 24/7 breakdown service so I invested in a van and then a new D Max pick-up. The pick-up was ideal for getting into fields, etc., which was important as we were doing a lot of agri work from the beginning. We work on literally anything that holds air – from a four-inch tyre up to a 52-inch one, from a wheelbarrow to a combine harvester.”
Agri work is much more than a mere afterthought. Indeed, to the contrary, it has developed into the core aspect of the overall business. “It’s the farmers that are keeping us busy nine-tenths of the time,” Mick confirms. “We do a lot of work on tractors and all types of agri machinery and it has become our bread and butter, really.”
Years of experience enable Mick to offer an exceptional level of service in this specialist area. It’s something he’s always done and he has become so accomplished at it that customers ring in and look for him personally to get their vehicles back up and running.
“Some of the farmers I started working for have since passed their businesses on to their sons, but they still ring in and look for me. It’s nice to know that people respect you for being good at what you do and I make myself available to look after customers at any time of the day or night.”
The catchment area covered encompasses North Dublin and parts of counties Meath and Louth. “Generally, we’d be working within a 20-mile radius but it all depends on where they are broken down and at the end of the day you have to go to wherever the vehicle is.”
Of course, farmers are not prepared to settle for second best when it comes to their machinery. Quality is paramount in the agri sector and, as a rule, only the best tyres – which provide the maximum value for money in the long term – will get anywhere near a farmyard. “BKT tyres are the biggest and the best, and that’s what most farmers are going for,” says Mick. “We also sell a lot Michelin and Firestone to the agri sector. Top premium tyres get the job done and 99% of farmers want them because they are the best. They want a premium product and a premium service – we go out of our way to provide both and that’s why we get so much repeat business from the farming community.”
The fully-stocked depot at Heathtown, Stamullen carries every make and size of tyre a farmer or motorist could possibly want / need, all of which are ready to be fitted to the customer’s vehicle within a matter of minutes. Complementing the mobile units, the company’s convenient and accessible premises offer customers the best possible products and service levels in double-quick time, catering for drivers of any types of vehicles.
To provide optimal service levels on the road, Mick operates a stunning, fully-kitted long-wheel-base Fiat Ducato mobile service unit alongside his Isuzu D-Max as well as a small Fiat which is used primarily for collecting tyres from Bridgestone.
As it’s essentially a family-run business, a friendly and personal touch is guaranteed with Tyres-4-U. Mick is ably assisted by his wife Anne, sons Jonathan (who’s at college studying to become a personal trainer) and Michael (who’s in fifth year at school) and daughter Jessica. “They all help out as much as they can and without them I’d have nothing,” he notes.
All in all, considering that 2009 was hardly the ideal time to set up a new business, due to the poor state of the economy at the time, Tyres-4-U has been a resounding success story to date: “We started during a recession and have always been busy, thank God,” says Mick. “Success always come down to workmanship and service in any trade. If you do a good job, you will get good work out of it. Everything is picking up in the economy again and building sites are getting busy again, with a lot of activity in and around the airport, for example, which is good news for us as we also do tyres for construction machinery – dump trucks, diggers, teleporters, etc. – there’s nothing we can’t do.
“When I’m talking to customers, I always do my best to advise them and to give them professional advice at all times. Health and safety is everything when it comes to tyres and I have to make sure it’s 100%. I won’t settle for anything less. I won’t do a job unless it’s 100% right.”
Looking to the future, Mick says it will be a case of more of the same for Tyres-4-U, with a major emphasis placed on maintaining the same quality service for which he has become renowned…
“We just want to keep going as we are going and to provide a personal touch,” he concludes. “To offer excellent products and an unrivalled service to match. To look after our customers and make sure everything is right.
“I have a lot of time for the farming community and these are the people who keep me going. I’ve a lot of experience of working in that area now and I understand the pressure they are under and strive to provide them with exceptional service and keep their downtime to a minimum. They can call me day or night.
“I have a lot of very good customers – farmers, contractors, hauliers and general motorists – and it’s a two-way relationship. They are loyal to me and I make sure to look after them and keep them right. There’s a knock-on effect, too, when you look after people. As well as their agri equipment, the farmers all have private cars and vehicles as well – as do their wives and sons and daughters – and you pick up a lot of extra work that way, once you have a reputation for delivering a fast and dependable service.”
Which Tyres-4-U most certainly has!
Tyres-4-U,
Heathtown,
Stamullen,
County Meath.
Tel: 086 0228113
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mcmanm22
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 5 No 8, December 2017/January 2018
