Stuart Spence

Elected:           April 10, 1997

Inducted:        September 27, 1997

Born:                May 10, 1950

Stuart was born in the small town of Estcourt in the province of Natal in South Africa.  When he was eight years of age his father bought a service station with a towing service.  Stewart’s first experience of a tow truck was when he drove it through the back wall of the workshop.  Thereafter many days were spent working at the service station after school to pay for the damage.  After graduating in 1968 he worked for the Toyota Dealership in Estcourt, running the towing operation.  In 1974, Stuart opened his own business, a motor repair facility with towing and road service.

In 1979, after a valuable learning curve and experience, he bought out his opposition with a heavy towing operation.  With his engineering background, the lean was to developing and manufacturing of equipment, so in 1981 he started an equipment manufacturing and distributing business.  This very quickly grew to be the main core of business and so in 1991 he relocated to Jonnesburg and bought out one of the older Holmes distributors in the world.  Today, Stuart is the biggest manufacturer and distributor of towing equipment in Africa.  He is a distributor for Zacklift, Holmes, Century, Challenger, Ramsey and Spenco Equipment.

In 1978, he was a founding member of the Nata Towing Assocaition, the first towing association in South Africa.  He has been on the Executive Committee since and has served a four year term as President.

In 1986, he was a founding member of the South African Towing and Recovery Association.  He has been on the Executive Committee for 11 years and is at present serving a 2 year term as President.  He has been a member of TRAA and Friends of Towing since 1990.

In 1995, he received the very prestigious honor of being elected as “Towman of the Year” by the South African Towing and Recovery Association Committee.

He regularly travels to America and other parts of the world to remain in touch with developments in the towing industry.  In all, he has been serving the towing and recovery industry for 30 years and continues to do so.