Tyre garage founder celebrates 20 years in business

A TYRE garage in Henley is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Thamesview Tyres in Newtown Road was started by Mark Shankland and two friends, Simon Bexx and Keith Harwood.

Now run by Mr Shankland and Peter Lucas, it supplies and fits tyres, batteries, exhausts and brakes as well as offering servicing, wheel alignment and puncture repairs.

The founders first met in the Seventies working for Mr Shankland’s father Chris at Henley Tyres in the same road.

Mr Shankland, 57, said: “I started there as a Saturday boy. In fact, I started fitting tyres when I was about nine or 10 — anything to get me out of the house really and doing something useful.” He grew up in Henley and attended the Oratory School and The Henley College before working for his father full-time.

He now lives in Henley with his wife Claire and has four children, who all went to Gillotts School.

Mr Shankland said the trio had learnt about customer service from his father and adopted his mantras: “Look after your customers or somebody else will” and “The customer is king”.

He said: “It was always about the customer, particularly in a small town like Henley. That was what was drilled into us.”

Following the covid-19 pandemic, Mr Bexx and Mr Harwood decided to move on and Mr Shankland took over the business with the help of Mr Lucas. The pair also own Regatta Car and Van Hire. Mr Shankland said: “Peter has a long history with Henley and was managing director of Maltin Porsche in Newtown Road.”

Mr Lucas, who lives in West Street, said: “Mark and I met in the Gillotts gym riding spinning bikes. We are both massive football fans — I support Manchester United and Mark’s Arsenal — so we got chatting about that and it just developed from there. We were in Coppa Club one day when we decided to open Regatta Car Hire.

“Thamesview has been in operation for 20 years, which is a success in itself, and to have a settled team of employees is really good. The team we have is young and well-trained, hardworking and polite. We are very proud of them and very happy to still be looking after Henley residents.”

Mr Shankland added: “With years of experience and a willingness to go the extra mile for our customers, it’s the team who make it all happen every day.”

He said that one of the biggest changes in the business in recent years had been the expansion of its mobile service which helps customers who are stuck with tyre issues at home or work.

“A lot of cars don’t carry spare wheels anymore,” he said.

The garage offers tyres not just for cars and vans but also quad bikes and ride-on mowers.