Bailiff monopoly Bandag bounces back
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• The Factoring Services Group (FSG) is pressing for a change in the law to remove the monopoly on what it sees as "slow bailiffs".
When a court order is made the creditor is forced to use the Court's own bailiffs which, says FSG, are too slow when compared with their private registered counterparts.
"By the time the court bailiffs arrive on the scene everything of value has gone," says the FSG. It also says that registered bailiffs get paid on commission alone while the court's civil-servant bailiffs are salaried.
The Lord Chancellors Office says anyone who feels that slow action by court bailiffs has lost them money has the right to sue.
However, it sums up the likelihood of a court finding against its own bailiffs as a "fat chance". • Having set up a network of UK franchisees in place of its previous sole agent, Bandag plans to change UK hauliers' attitude to retreads.
In the UK, it says, there are only 0.6 retreads to every new tyre sold: in the USA. where Bandag claims a 50°., market share, the ratio is 1.3:1. Bandag UK's managing director Robert Harrison puts this down to operators' attitude—and the fact that most UK tyre distributors are owned by tyre manufacturers.
He cites bad regrooving for about 30% of scrap casings, although Bandag's own retreads are regroovable. The company urges setting the regrooving tool about 1 mm shallower than the tyre manufacturers recommend.
Before the court battle to end the sole agency agreement Bandag claimed around 18% of the retread market. To help regain and improve on that share Bandag has appointed 12 agents and is looking for more franchisees in Southampton, London and Northampton.
As part of its drive the company is working on a new cold cure cap called Eclipse which follows the shape of a new tyre and covers not only the tread area but also the shoulders and part of the sidewall.
The first model in the range will be wide singles, but it will be extended to all Bandag retreads within a year.