THE Eastleigh and Fareham branches of Protyre have been awarded the prestigious Pirelli Performance Centre (PPC) Gold status by Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli.

The Protyre branches on the Boyatt Wood Industrial Estate in Eastleigh and Russell Place in Fareham were awarded PPC Gold Status after an audit by a Pirelli technical engineer.

Due to the stringent standards of the audit, they join a list of only 50 tyre dealers throughout the UK who have passed and become a PPC.

The PPC concept was introduced by Pirelli, the world leader in high performance tyres, in order to highlight the country’s most professional tyre retailing depots.

Each PPC undertakes a constant programme of quality and technical evaluation, achieved through regular audits which cover a wide spectrum of areas, including working practices, standard and maintenance of equipment and procedures which pertain to tyre/wheel removal and replacement.

Specifically Pirelli is keen to ensure that drivers of high performance vehicles have a network of dealers to which they can visit with confidence.

Eastleigh and Fareham Protyre have the most up to date wheel balancing equipment.

Area manager Darren Godwin commented on the audit performance: “We are delighted to not only pass the audit but to achieve such a high grade. The PPC audit is notoriously difficult to pass, so the fact we did so well reflects positively on all our staff.

“We have real experience of high performance vehicles with our motorsport heritage and drivers of high performance cars in the Hampshire area know that they can visit us with confidence”.

For more details on Protyre and PPC visit protyre.co.uk or pirelli.co.uk