• National Service Centre of the year won by Bridgestone Service Centre Broome.
• Sister store, Bridgestone Service Centre Wedgefield (Port Hedland) claims WA Truck Store of the Year.

Broome, South Australia (22 April, 2022) — Bridgestone Service Centre Broome has claimed national honours as the top performing regional store in Bridgestone's network of Bridgestone Service Centres in the company's DRIVE program.

For store owners, James & Lynda Hagan, the victory was bolstered with sister-store Bridgestone Service Centre Wedgefield (Port Hedland) claiming WA Truck Store of the Year, having won the national prize the year prior.

According to James Hagan, the continued success in the DRIVE program was a shock given the challenging environment of the past 12 months.

"It's definitely been a difficult year for us because of Covid-related staff shortages, so to win this award is a bit of a shock. We've always prided ourselves with a focus on customer service and knowing our customers' needs, so we're honoured to be recognised by Bridgestone for the second consecutive year of the DRIVE program," Mr Hagan said.

"Our approach has always been to utilise our local knowledge and understanding to ensure our customers are fitted with the product to best suit their needs, and we achieve this by letting them guide us in order to provide the best recommendation for their own use. I believe it's this mentality that keeps customers coming back to our stores in North Western WA."

DRIVE is the national recognition program for Bridgestone Select and Bridgestone Service Centres around the country. Launched in 2020, DRIVE sees stores benchmarked in line with Bridgestone values of customer centricity, delivering a leading customer experience and exceptional value for tyre and auto services.  

The program recognises the top stores nationally and by region across three main categories: Franchise of the Year for Bridgestone Select stores, Store of the Year for Bridgestone Service Centres, and Truck Store of the Year for the best performing store for Bridgestone truck, bus and retread sales.

Bridgestone Australia & New Zealand Managing Director Heath Barclay is proud that the focus of the Bridgestone network remained on the customer despite the challenges of 2021.

"We're delighted to recognise our DRIVE program winners and showcase their commitment to customer, and James & Lynda Hagan have done a fantastic job across Broome and Port Hedland to claim both Regional Store of the Year, and WA Truck Store of the Year," Mr Barclay said.

"Bridgestone has been named Australia's most trusted tyre brand by Reader's Digest, and our network has the most satisfied customer according to Canstar Blue, so our DRIVE program is recognising the best of the best. 

"The DRIVE program highlights the effort our network makes in delivering exceptional service, value for money and continuing to build trust with customers. Despite lockdowns and a continually changing business landscape, our stores have remained fixed on these core values and continue to do our brand proud.

"DRIVE continues to set the benchmark across our network, and I am thrilled with how competitive the results were in 2021. Ultimately, our customers are the real winners through the DRIVE program – and our stores are performing by delivering on customer needs," Mr Barclay added.

-ENDS-