Bridgestone-Greggs 0066

Bridgestone’s breakdown response times helped the firm see off fierce competition to clinch a major deal with bakery chain Greggs.

The contract will Bridgestone fit Greggs’ UK fleet with its premium tyres until 2020.

It will also see Bridgestone’s Bandag retreading products used to prolong the fleet’s second stage tyre life.

Bridgestone’s fleet business development manager Ian Davis (pictured left) said: “We can’t express how much this partnership means to us all.

"Greggs is a household name and to be selected from an extremely competitive tendering process is a great achievement for the team. The name ‘Greggs’ really does resonate with so many people."

The Bridgestone Partner network, which assists more than 35,000 stranded commercial vehicle operators a year and boasts an average time of 62 minutes from the moment the first call was made to the point at which roadside assistance arrives, played a key role in Bridgestone winning the contract, Davis said.

“These figures struck a chord with Greggs, as did our transparent reporting tools,” he said.

“Having then arrived at a stricken vehicle, we demonstrated that it takes an average of 51 minutes to complete each job, meaning that each vehicle is up-and-running in an average of less than two hours, from the time the first call was made.”

Greggs’ fleet manager Chris Pyne (pictured right) said: “We were very impressed with Bridgestone’s approach to our fleet and the way in which they would support us.

"We were aware of their premium products which are obviously very important to us, but the holistic approach to the maintenance and management of each tyre they provide us with was very impressive.”

This latest deal follows Bridgestone’s £110m, five-year deal with transport operator FirstGroup in June and a three-year extension of its contract with dairy giant Arla in May, which takes the relationship into a tenth consecutive year.

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