Ian Andrews steps into the role of NTDA Chief Executive at a precarious moment for the UK tyre industry, where skills shortages, demographic shifts and mounting environmental pressures threaten to outpace the sector’s readiness. New to tyres but not to membership organisations, Andrews must prove his ability to turn fresh perspective into actionable solutions bridging gaps in recruitment, diversity and sustainability while convincing members that the nearly century-old association can adapt quickly enough to safeguard its relevance.

Ian Andrews, the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA), has embarked on a mission to address urgent challenges within the UK tyre sector, undertaking a comprehensive strategy to tackle recruitment issues, enhance member engagement, promote collaboration and advance environmental sustainability.

Coming from two decades of senior leadership in membership-based organisations but new to the tyre industry itself, Andrews brings a fresh perspective combined with seasoned leadership skills to the nearly 100-year-old trade association.

Upon assuming his role, Andrews emphasised a grounded approach focused on learning directly from NTDA members. “My immediate priorities are to understand the challenges and opportunities that face the tyre sector here in UK, principally, but globally as well,” he shared.

Approaching the role without preconceived notions, he aims to listen and respond to member feedback. Early indications point to recruitment and careers as pressing issues. “Careers and recruitment seem to be one of the early areas of work that we need to focus on. There are significant recruitment issues here in UK, not just in tyres but across the whole motor vehicle sector,” said Andrews during the exclusive interview with Tyre Trends.

TACKLING GAPS

The UK tyre sector faces a looming demographic shift with a substantial number of experienced professionals expected to retire over the next decade, risking a critical loss of institutional knowledge and technical skills.

Andrews warned, “The sector has got a significant number of people who will retire in the next 10 years. So there’ll be a significant loss of knowledge and skills.”

While larger companies have training and HR departments to manage recruitment and development efforts, smaller businesses face a heavier burden. “They are doing it themselves, and if you’re employing somebody new, then it’s a huge commitment to train and develop that person until they start generating revenue and making a return on the investment,” he explained.

Recognising the sector’s traditionally male-dominated nature, Andrews stressed the imperative of building a more diverse workforce. “We need to look at getting a better and more diverse workforce. Moreover, any business should be reflective of the community it’s working in. If you’re in an ethnically diverse community, your workforce will be best when it’s ethnically diverse,” he noted.

Yet he acknowledged the cultural shift required will take time and that’s not going to happen overnight.

Furthermore, Brexit has complicated recruitment by reducing access to talent from Europe, shifting the focus predominantly to UK-based recruitment. “Most of the tyre sector focus is on UK recruitment, perhaps more so now after Brexit,” Andrews noted.

Despite these constraints, his message was clear: “If we keep doing what we’ve always done, we’ll end up with what we’ve always had. So we need to look at doing different things. Reaching different groups of people.”

To address the skills and professionalism gap, NTDA has expanded its tyre technician licensing schemes significantly. Andrews reported robust uptake with over 16,000 technicians licensed by the NTDA.

This growth is particularly notable in the past two years. Acknowledging the specialised skills needed in emerging technologies, he highlighted the introduction of licensing for electric vehicle tyre (EV) technicians. “The whole electric vehicle is bringing a new plethora of challenges and opportunities. It’s a different skill set. Everything is different in EVs,” he said.

ENGAGING MEMBERS

Member engagement and retention stand as foundational pillars for Andrews’s leadership as well. He aims to increase members’ awareness of

NTDA’s benefits and encourage their active participation. “Often, members pay their membership fee but don’t really explore all the member benefits,” he observed.

Plans include surveying members on their benefit awareness and usefulness while exploring additional services that may be introduced. To foster greater connection, Andrews is looking at enhancing local engagement through regional events across UK, alongside leveraging digital platforms.

He mentioned, “We run large national events in October, including our National Tire Conference and National Tire Awards, which are very well supported. But we need to explore how else we can engage with members on a more local basis for physical events but also on a digital basis.”

His previous experience includes organising half-day digital forums with speakers and interactive participation, offering participants the flexibility to attend live or watch recorded sessions later.

Collaboration within the sector forms a cornerstone of Andrews’s strategic outlook. While mindful and cautious of anti-competitive regulations, he believes substantial benefits can come from sharing resources and best practices, especially on recruitment and sustainability challenges.

“There’s always greater advantage in collaboration than there is in competition. Who is doing it well? What are they willing to share? What resources do they have that might be made more widely available?” he asserted.

At the same time, he acknowledged the necessity of protecting commercially sensitive information: “There will always be things that are commercially sensitive and need to be kept such, but that’s fine. Let’s collaborate on the 90 percent that isn’t commercially sensitive and keep the 10 percent that is.”

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

Environmental stewardship and sustainability have emerged prominently on the NTDA agenda. Andrews described active engagement with the UK Environment Agency regarding the management of end-of-life tyres.

“We’re engaged with the agency that is responsible for where end-of-life tyres end up, making sure that they end up in the right place at the right time and don’t clog up our rivers, canals and green spaces,” he stated.

Growing government interest in tyre runoff impacting watercourses may further intensify oversight. “There’s government interest in where runoff from tyres is ending up in the water courses,” Andrews noted, emphasising the importance of proactive dialogue. “With all aspects of working with government, it’s about getting to them before they get to you.”

He committed to openness and transparency if issues arise, stating, “If there’s an issue, then be upfront and open that there’s an issue and we’re working on it and there is a solution.”

Looking to the future, Andrews identified his plans for NTDA’s next three to five years that include member growth, recruitment and environmental awareness. “Internally, it is driving member engagement and member value and therefore driving up member growth,” he shared.

Externally, recruitment and environmental matters are key concerns. Noting that larger companies typically have sustainability specialists, Andrews highlighted the need to support smaller businesses struggling to navigate sustainability practices. “Helping the whole sector regardless of the size of the business is important,” he said.

Throughout the interview, Andrews repeatedly underscored the fundamental role of the tyre industry in public health and safety. “The tyre sector is fundamentally about health, safety and well-being,” he emphasised.

“You wouldn’t put your most precious things anywhere without some assurance that they’re going to be safe. Let’s not put our partners, children, parents into vehicles without some assurance that the tyres are going to do the job that’s expected of them,” he asserted.

Based in Halesbury, Buckinghamshire, Andrews expressed enthusiasm for leading the NTDA forward. While new to tyres, he is confident in his ability to learn quickly with the board and executive council’s support. “The tyre stuff I will learn. When I joined the BPCA, I knew nothing about pest control. Now I’d like to think the same will be true of tyres. It’s all learnable,” he said.

He also stressed his readiness to bring expert colleagues to discussions, for example, when facing government ministers, to ensure the expertise needed is present.

As he takes charge of NTDA during a time of transformation, Andrews seeks to position the association as the collective voice of the tyre sector, delivering professional standards and fostering a collaborative, diverse and sustainable industry that prioritises safety and well-being.

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Yokohama Rubber has established a new research and development centre in Hangzhou, China, as the Japanese tyre maker seeks to strengthen localised product development and speed up response times in the Chinese market.

The new facility, named Yokohama China Technical Center, began operations in May within the company’s new passenger car tyre plant in Hangzhou, which started production in November 2025.

The company said the centre would enable the local development of products specifically for the Chinese market, from initial research through to completion, helping to accelerate product launches and improve responsiveness to regional demand.

The centre will consolidate R&D functions for Yokohama Rubber’s tyre and multiple business divisions in China, while expanding engineering staff and testing facilities. Its activities will include tyre development, raw material analysis and evaluation, supplier audits, and mould drawing preparation.

Yokohama Rubber said the new operation would also support research into new raw materials and the development of local suppliers in China.

The company currently operates tyre plants in Hangzhou and Suzhou, alongside multiple business plants in Hangzhou and Weifang.

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Chhattisgarh-based technology company Aarika Innovation has introduced KoolWheel, an automated tyre water spray cooling system manufactured in India.

The product is designed for freight vehicles and school buses to manage tyre overheating caused by road surface temperatures.

The system uses IR (infrared) temperature sensors, a 5-bar pump and solenoid valves to spray a mist on tyres when temperatures exceed a threshold. The hardware operates on a 12V setup and includes a controller that requires no driver intervention. Dashboard indicators and buzzers provide alerts regarding system status and temperature levels.

The company has introduced two variants of the product for KoolWheel Freight, which is designed for trucks, trailers and multi-axle vehicles, covering up to 22 tyres across six axles. And KoolWheel SchoolSafe, which is developed for school buses and coaches, featuring a 50-litre stainless steel tank and an automatic shutoff to prevent battery drain.

The company states the system can reduce tyre temperatures by up to 25deg Celsius and extend tyre life by up to 35 percent. The technology is intended to reduce the risk of blowouts and maintenance costs for fleet operators. The product is currently available in markets including Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana.

Swayam Agarwal, Founder, Aarika Innovation, said, “KoolWheel has been created to solve a very real problem faced by Indian transporters and school bus operators every day. Tyre overheating is not just a maintenance issue; it directly impacts road safety, operating costs, and fleet reliability. With KoolWheel, our aim is to offer an affordable, intelligent, and Made-in-India solution that helps fleets run safer, longer, and more efficiently.”

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European tyre major Pirelli is starting production of its Cyber Tyre technology at its plant in Georgia. The facility produces tyres for the US market, including products for the motorsport segment.

The announcement occurred during the SelectUSA Investment Summit. Cyber Tyre is a system that collects data from sensors embedded in tyres. This data is processed through software and algorithms to communicate with vehicle electronics. The system is intended to integrate with driving systems to provide functionalities for mobility and safety.

Pirelli is also introducing the Modular Integrated Robotised System (MIRS) at the factory. This manufacturing process uses robots to manage productivity and quality. The system creates a link between product design and application. This update is intended to increase the production capacity of the site.

The Georgia plant has operated for over two decades and includes a research and development centre. The facility uses natural rubber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Claudio Zanardo, CEO of Pirelli North America, said, “The start of Cyber Tyre production in our Rome, Georgia plant is a significant milestone for Pirelli in this country. It reflects our commitment to bringing advanced technologies like Cyber Tyre closer to the market, further strengthening our industrial footprint and innovation capabilities in the United States.”

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The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. developed a proprietary tyre mould design support system in April 2026, integrating finite element method (FEM) simulations and the company’s own artificial intelligence technology. This new tool is designed to augment the expertise of development personnel, enabling even less experienced staff to efficiently design moulds. It achieves this by providing data derived from numerous virtual experiments, which clarify how different mould design factors influence tyre characteristics.

The system accelerates mould development, lowers costs and minimises the rework typically associated with realising new designs. Furthermore, by fostering a multi-perspective understanding of the links between mould design elements and tyre performance, the tool equips Yokohama Rubber’s developers with fresh insights. These discoveries are expected to aid in creating tyres capable of achieving higher performance levels.

Developed under Yokohama Rubber’s HAICoLab AI concept launched in October 2020, the system addresses longstanding challenges. Mould design critically affects tyre traits, but traditionally understanding this relationship required expensive, time-consuming trial production and evaluations. The process also depended heavily on the tacit know-how of highly experienced staff, leading to variations in accuracy and development time based on individual expertise.

The support system resolves these issues through automated simulations and AI-based prediction and visualisation. It first generates numerous tyre FEM models with varied mould shapes and calculates their characteristics in a virtual space. These results train an AI surrogate model that instantly predicts design factor-performance relationships. By applying explainable AI technologies like SHAP and Partial Dependence Plots, the company’s developers can quantitatively visualise each factor’s impact, easily determining necessary adjustments to achieve targeted tyre characteristics.

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