Noel Hickey, Bridgestone’s ever-popular salesman has recently retired after a long and distinguished career with the company.

“Noel, will be remembered by customers and the Bridgestone team for his great great sense of humour and a natural ability with people. Over the years he formed great relationships with customers and with fleets in Dublin, the South East and Midlands,” Frank White of Bridgestone Ireland commented.

He added: “Noel started selling Bridgestone Tyres over 27 years ago.At the time ECI Ltd had the agency for Bridgestone Tyres. In 1990 Bridgestone Ireland was formed and Noel joined as the sales representative for the Dublin region,selling Bridgestone Car, Van, 4×4 and Truck Tyres.”

In 1994 he transferred to the South East region and in 1999 he became part of the commercial sales team concentrating on Truck and Bus tyres. Noel very seldom missed a sales target and was always a top performer right up until his retirement.

A native of Kilkenny City,he has lived in Dublin for many years and is a keen golfer.Some years ago his handicap was 2 but this has slipped a bit recently!

However,we hope he will regain his form now that he has some more time! We wish Noel, his wife Kat and all his family the best in his retirement.

Noel’s sales area will now be served by Shane Landers who will look after the Waterford, Tipperary, Carlow and Kilkenny region.Barry Russell takes on Laois, Kildare, Wicklow and Wexford,with Ger McNamara covering Offaly.

“I first met Noel at the launch of Bridgestone Ireland in 1990 and he immediately made a positive impression. Noel’s skill has always been to get the job done with a smile on his face and maintain strong friendships with his customers regardless of the business issues or pressures at a particular time. He was a key part of a team that helped to establish Bridgestone in the Irish market and a team that enabled it to travel from an unknown brand to market leader in relatively short space of time. I wish him well in his retirement and I hope he enjoys the golf courses of Ireland,” says Colm Conyngham, First Stop Ireland.