Celebrating 30 years in business, Daly Tyres Ltd offers a next day delivery all over Ireland and same day service to certain locations. General Manager Robert Nelligan told Irish Tractor & Agri all about the company which is headquartered in Rathkeale and an undoubted success story.
Seeing your company through four different decades is no simple feat, but then again the work which Eamon Daly has done with Daly Tyres Ltd since 1985 is something special.
After starting the business from scratch 30 years ago, Eamon has saw his venture blossom to become sole agents in Ireland for tyre giants such as Cooper (USA), Kenda (Taiwan), Infinity (Dubai) and Rotalla (China). Daly Tyres are also now sole agents for Teco garage equipment.
On board with the company for 15 years now, General Manager Robert Nelligan has been a part of the day-to-day running of business from its headquarters in Rathkeale.
“We’re based in Rathkeale Industrial Estate, Rathkeale, Co Limerick,” explained Robert.
“The company was established by Eamon Daly in 1985 and there are 72 employees here across all of our retail outlets. We have two businesses here – the wholesale division was started 30 years ago and two years after that Eamon opened his first retail shop in Rathkeale and from there it has grown.
“By 2002 we had more than a dozen retail shops throughout Munster and we cover every segment of the market now and make every brand of tyre available to our customers.”
The central warehouse in Rathkeale holds stock of more than 120,000 tyres to serve the Irish market via next day delivery.
The retail side of the company trades under the name ‘Tyrestop’ and now has 19 stores located throughout Munster, selling tyres and doing mechanical work for the consumer.
This business is run on the model of a franchise designed in-house. The Group is Irish-owned and operated and source many of its products locally. They employ local people and hope to continue, with the help of their customers.
Infinity is a brand which still remains popular for the company from back in the days when Robert first started with them.
“We started carrying their brand in 2000 and we’re now distributing them throughout Ireland,” he said.
“We’ve had a successful life with them so far and they’ve very good warranties with their tyres.”
Ten years on from first carrying their brand and Daly Tyres were travelling across the world to look into Infinity’s tractor and truck products.
“In 2010, we decided to take another look at things. A Dubai-based company owns Infinity but the first proto-type was produced in China in 2012, so we travelled out there to take look at it,” explained Robert.
“Ireland was the first country in the world to take delivery of the Infinity tyre, so we were looking for a way to test it. So we knew the Shanahan Brothers, who are an agricultural contractor, might be interested. They fitted a couple of tyres for us and they were beyond our expectations, but for me the ultimate proof of their quality was when we tested them again in 2014.”
Over the last two years, the Infinity brand has proved hugely popular to the point where it can be difficult to keep up with the high demand at times. Infinity is available through our Key Dealers located throughout the Country.
“So from 2013 to 2015 we’ve placed 5,000 tyres on the market,” said the General Manager
“Price-wise they’d be around €2,000 per set for a small tractor and they got up to €3,500, depending on the size you’re looking for.”
He continued: “You can save anything up to €1,000 from what you would pay for the next brand up. We made sure to be extremely competitive with the price and it has got to a point now where we actually have a demand for them.
“We have 500 customers throughout Ireland and sometimes it can be difficult to keep up with the demand, which isn’t a bad complaint I suppose.”
Next behind infinity in popularity at the minute for Tyrestop is the Cooper brand, which leads the way across the Atlantic when it comes to 4×4 tyres.
“The Cooper 4×4 tyre is another popular tyre for us,” said Robert
“Cooper is the number one tyre brand in the US when it comes to 4x4s. The ST MAXX is another specialist tyre that they produce which is popular. They are pulling up to 2.5 tonnes on the back and it can put up with the off road conditions.
“The only disadvantage is with 19 retail shops throughout Munster, sometimes you hear back that ‘the product is too bloody good’”.
Tyrestop have locations in five of Munster since counties and they are as follows: Abbeyfeal, Michael Street, Eastway Business Park, Newcastle West, Rathkeale (Limerick), Charleville, Douglas, Bandon, Pouladuff, Ballincollig (Cork), Kenmare, Tralee, Killarney, Listowel, Kilorglin (Kerry), Tulla Road, Ennis, Quin Road, Ennis (Clare) and Cahir in Tipperary.
“We run a delivery service which operates six days a week and it covers all 32 counties. We’ve six Mitsubishi trucks and four drivers that are working full-time,” said the GM.
Tyrestop currently manages many National Fleet accounts and has a proven track record in delivering value for money with a top class service.
For the Fleet operators, they provide full coverage and support in all parts of the country. This service is for car, van and heavy commercials. They also provide a dedicated reporting which is unique to each fleet account.
The company’s products can also be seen on display every year at the National Ploughing Championships, which Robert sees as a perfect platform to display many of their brands and put people in contact with a Key Dealer in their area.
“We’ve been taking part in them for the last four years and it’s great to display your company at them. You get plenty of feedback from it and when you’ve a good product, the word tends to spread,” he said.
Eamon Daly started Daly Tyres in 1985 after studying architectural engineering at Moylish College in LIT. His son Mark has recently joined the company.
Daly Tyres
Rathkeale Industrial Estate,
Rathkeale,
Co Limerick
Tel: 069 64899
Web: dalytyres.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 11, December 2015
