Loughrea Tyre Centre closes in on 25 years in business
30/10/2024
Loughrea Tyre Centre in Co Galway offers quality car, van, truck, bus and agri tyres along with an overall top class service to its customers. Irish Trucker spoke with its Managing Director Jamie Monahan to learn more about its range of services, the state of business at the moment and overall hopes going forward.
Next year marks the 25th anniversary of Loughrea Tyre Centre’s inception and business has seldom been better for proprietor Jamie Monahan and his team than it is at the minute.
Based in Fairfield, Loughrea, Co Galway, the company has grown from strength to strength over the years, building up its reputation along the way to the point now where it is the first choice for its customers out west.
Right now, Loughrea Tyre Centre employs six full-time staff, with Jamie Monahan heading it up and his mother Jodi still very much involved in the business her late husband Tommy initially set-up at the turn of the millennium.
Irish Trucker caught up with Jamie Monahan recently to find out more on this second-generation family business and the secrets behind its unquestionable success to date.
“Next year will be 25 years in business for us and things are going well now at the moment here,” he outlined.
“We’re always kept going here and hopefully it’ll stay that way. The only thing nowadays really is that it’s hard to get workers, but we’re still kept busy anyway and Bridgestone would still be the most popular tyre that we’re selling to haulage companies.”
Having set-up in 2000, the Loughrea Tyre Centre team moved into its current premises three years later and, in that time, the company has managed to grown itself into a market-leading operation.
It stocks a full range of tyres for cars, vans, buses, trucks, jeeps, tractors, quads, construction equipment, trailers, agri machinery and everything in between for its customers, providing them with best brands and accessories at the best price as well.
Included in Loughrea Tyre Centre’s wide range of stock are Continental, Dunlop, Firestone, Goodyear, Hankook, Michelin, Pirelli, Uniroyal, Federal, Bridgestone and BKT / Agrigear.
It also stocks rims, batteries, wipers and all parts and accessories associated with the tyre trade, making this business first choice for its customers when it comes to tyre inspections, puncture repairs, tyre replacements, alloy wheel repair, wheel alignment and wheel balancing.
As well as that, Loughrea Tyre Centre provides its customers with a 24/7 breakdown recovery and roadside assistance service.
It operates a Renault Master and a small Opel van to carry out the work day in, day out, with around 90 per cent of its tractor tyre fitting work taking place within the yard of the farm itself.
Recent additions to the range of equipment which the company operates in Fairfield include a couple of new Corghi products which have been running fantastic since, according to Jamie.
“I got a new Corghi tracker machine and a new Corghi air tyre machine as well there recently,” he stated.
“We also picked up a new Corghi balance machine and they’ve all been going well for us since, so that’ll be it for another while I would say.”
2025 is set to mark a quarter century in business for Loughrea Tyre Centre, so the burning question is what has been the secret behind its continued success down through the years?
How has a small start-up grown into what is now a quality car, van, truck, bus and agri tyre company which holds a golden reputation among its customers?
For Jamie, it comes down to a combination of different factors but he sees quality service as being very much paramount above all else.
“We have a lot of the same customers from ‘Day One’ nearly and anyone that’s with us usually tends to stay with us,” he stated.
“I’d say a lot of it is down to the service that they’re getting, to be honest with you. I know we may not be the cheapest, but the quality of the tyres and our service is excellent. You can be assured that we’d never leave a customer stuck, day or night, weekday or weekend.
“I’m always on the road and always on call. Along with two or three other lads that would be on call also if I was unable to make it to make sure the job gets done for the customer whenever and wherever they need it.
“We’d have a lot of customers that go from Galway to Dublin on trucks on a daily basis and, if they got stuck in Dublin or anywhere around the country, we’d have a man there ready to go for them.
“We work with them and they’d work with us.”
Quality is always assured at Loughrea Tyre Centre and customers also know that it’s 24/7 breakdown service is reliable and trustworthy.
As for the months ahead for the business, the Managing Director is hoping that things will remain on the same trajectory as they are at the present time with a milestone anniversary just now around the corner for the family company.
“We just want to keep everyone happy. If we can keep the customers happy and the workers happy then we’ll be happy enough then. We’re just looking to keep going the way we’ve been going,” Jamie concluded.
Loughrea Tyre Centre
Fairfield,
Loughrea,
Co Galway
H65 K652.
Tel: 091 841 260
Mobile: 087 982 1917
E-mail: [email protected]
First published in Irish Trucker magazine September/October 2024, Vol 27-5
