People & Careers

Bridgestone Champions Programme Builds Retail Skills

Published:

July 2, 2026

Author:

James Lockwood

Bridgestone has completed the latest intake of its Champions programme, bringing together 12 representatives from tyre retailers and wholesalers for three days of retail, technical and customer-service training. The initiative, now in its fourth year, is designed to help customer-facing staff improve service standards as vehicle technology becomes more complex.

Building confidence in tyre retail

The latest group included representatives from Merityre, Tanvic Tyres, ETS and GT Wholesale. The programme covered relationship building, retail marketing, communication skills, telephone best practice and face-to-face selling.

For tyre retailers, the relevance is practical. Depot staff are increasingly expected to explain tyre choice, driving requirements, vehicle technology and safety considerations clearly to motorists. That places greater value on structured training for sales teams, reception staff and customer advisers, not only technicians.

Mark Fereday,



Senior Trade Marketing Manager, North Region at Bridgestone, said the programme was about more than product knowledge. He said Bridgestone wanted participants to leave with “the confidence and knowledge to make a real difference” in their own businesses.

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Future mobility enters the training agenda

The final day took delegates to the Delphi Academy in Warwick, where the group received insight into electric vehicles, hybrid technology and advanced diagnostics. Delphi says its academy training covers areas including EV, hybrid, hydrogen, diagnostics and other vehicle systems, with IMI-accredited courses also available.

This gives the programme wider relevance than a conventional retail workshop. Tyre depots and wholesalers are having to respond to vehicles with higher weight, instant torque, driver assistance systems and increasingly connected maintenance requirements.

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