Bridgestone Names Hendra, Broome and Warrnambool as Top Performing Stores in Annual DRIVE program

Bridgestone Select Hendra in Brisbane continues to set the benchmark for Bridgestone with back-to-back National Franchise of the Year titles for the store owned by Caleb Sos.
National honours also went to James and Lynda Hagan’s Bridgestone Service Centre Broome for the Service Centre of the Year category, Peter Baulch and Bridgestone Service Centre Warrnambool for the Truck Store of the year accolade, while Garth and Leanne Pettersen and Bridgestone Select Keperra in Brisbane claimed New Store of the Year.
According to National Franchise of the Year store owner, Caleb Sos, the back-to-back wins were a surprise to him, but a team-wide effort.
“Our focus at Bridgestone Select Hendra has always been to go above and beyond – putting our customers first and ensuring that we have a safe and healthy environment for our staff, and clearly that is a formula that is working,” Caleb said.
“It’s a huge honour to win store of the year once, but to win two years in a row is amazing and reflects the incredible commitment from the team, led by store manager Darren Proctor.”
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.
A dedicated New Store of the Year Award is also awarded amongst Bridgestone Select locations in their first three years of trading – contested between 17 stores in 2021.
Bridgestone Australia and 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 customers – especially our national winners: Bridgestone Select Hendra, Bridgestone Service Centre Broome, Bridgestone Service Centre Warrnambool, and Bridgestone Select Keperra,” Heath said.
“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.”

The following stores were recognised as part of the DRIVE Program:

Franchise of the Year
– National Winner/QLD – Bridgestone Select Hendra
– NSW/ACT – Bridgestone Select Rutherford
– VIC/TAS – Bridgestone Select Hobart
– SA/NT – Bridgestone Select Norwood
– WA – Bridgestone Select Busselton

New Store of the Year:
– Bridgestone Select Keperra (QLD)

Service Centre of the Year
– National/WA – Bridgestone Service Centre Broome
– QLD – Bridgestone Service Centre Charters Towers
– NSW/ACT – Bridgestone Service Centre Laurieton
– VIC/TAS – Bridgestone Service Centre Warrnambool
– SA/NT – Bridgestone Service Centre Mount Gambier

Truck Store of the Year
– National/VIC – Bridgestone Service Centre Warrnambool
– QLD – Bridgestone Service Centre Gladstone
– NSW/ACT – Bridgestone Service Centre Kempsey
– SA/NT – Bridgestone Service Centre Ceduna
– WA – Bridgestone Service Centre Wedgefield (Port Hedland)

For more information, visit www.bridgestone.com.au