The UK’s fastest-growing tyre retailer Protyre Autocare (Protyre) has turned to Delphi for a bespoke training programme to support its ambitious growth plans.
The partnership, which began in 2018, will significantly expand this year to cover well over 1,000 Delphi training sessions.
“Training investment is crucial if you want to stay at the top of your game,” said Stan Watson, Retail Director at Protyre. “We know we can rely on Delphi to ensure our technicians excel in their roles and adapt to the latest automotive advancements.”
With a Trustpilot rating of five stars on more than 110,000 reviews, Protyre is committed to excellent customer service. It currently operates from 184 branches across the country and plans are in place to grow its network by up to 20 per cent annually. The bespoke Delphi-developed training programme is key to aligning all branches with Protyre’s core values of ‘honesty, care and expertise’.
“It’s admirable to see such a big player investing in staff to this extent,” said Luke Garratt, UK Technical Services Manager at Delphi. “Protyre is giving its employees an opportunity to grow from having minimal experience to becoming a fully qualified Master Technician.”
The training is conducted at Delphi’s advanced training centre in Warwick, distinguished as one of the UK’s largest IMI-approved technical training hubs. The program adopts a holistic approach, blending classroom theory, online learning, and hands-on workshop sessions.
Fundamental training topics are covered by a selection of courses. Additionally, there’s also a focus on Delphi’s advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), electric vehicle (EV), and F-Gas training courses.
“Everyone that’s engaged with Delphi has been blown away by the quality of training,” said Stan. “There isn’t anybody else in the UK that can provide this level of training – Delphi is at the forefront.”
Protyre leverages Delphi Academy’s e-learning platform, which offers over 300 interactive modules to enhance the learning experience through technical articles, videos, and simulations.
The partnership has significantly diversified Protyre’s service offerings. Since collaborating with Delphi, general servicing and repair work now represents 40 per cent of Protyre’s operations – a substantial increase from 15 per cent in 2018.
“Despite traditionally being a tyre business, we’re very forward-looking and have expanded our offer to a full range of autocare services,” said Stan. “We’ve trained all our service technicians to IMI-level EV standards. It means that as our loyal customers begin to make the switch to EV, we’ll continue to have the skills and expertise needed to meet their demands. Looking further ahead still, we’re well placed to benefit from Delphi’s new hydrogen training too.”
Protyre dates back to the 1970’s when parent company, Micheldever Group, first opened a garage in Winchester. Micheldever went on to become one of the largest independent tyre wholesalers in the UK, today selling seven million tyres nationwide. An acquisition by Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) in 2017 brought accelerated growth for Micheldever Group’s retail brand, Protyre.
For more information about Delphi vehicle technician training, visit https://www.delphiautoparts.com/gbr/en/training/training