TYRE spend on some fleet cars can account for up to 60% of their maintenance budget, making tight control of costs more important than ever.

The need to provide fleets with the expertise they need to keep tyre bills under control is part of a major drive for business being launched at Hi-Q, the fast-fit network.

The firm, which has 500 outlets and 380 mobile units, has already doubled the size of its sales team to 12 as part of the campaign.

Naithan Keeping, Hi-Q fleet director, said: ‘Everyone at Hi-Q has great experience and that is the key to driving the service forward. Our greatest strength is our network, the people in our stores and the quality of our management.

‘Depending on the car, between 30% and 60% of the maintenance budget can be tyre spend. Tyre sizes are going up and choosing the right tyres is becoming an increasingly crucial commercial decision to make.

‘We have the expertise in store to help fleets effectively manage this issue. We just need to tell people about it.’