Mike Welch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the major league pitcher, see Mike Welch (baseball).

Mike Welch (born September 28, 1978) is a British entrepreneur, and managing director of online tyre retailer Blackcircles.com.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born in Liverpool, England, Welch left school aged 16 and began working as a tyre fitter. He quit in 1996, just weeks after joining, to launch his first tyre retail business, MW Motorforce. He ran the company from a room in his parents’ house with a mobile phone and help from a £500 grant from The Prince's Trust.

Welch moved to Edinburgh after being head-hunted by Sir Tom Farmer to work as Kwik-Fit’s New Business and e-Commerce Manager in 2000. He left the company two years later after he was told he would have to wait 30-40 years to make chief executive.

[edit] Blackcircles.com

He immediately set up Blackcircles.com, which now has a turnover of approximately £10 million a year.[1] The company, based in the Scottish Borders town of Peebles, is the first ever franchised online tyre ordering service.[citation needed] After booking, customers then have their tyres fitted at one of Blackcircles’ network of 987 independent garages.

Welch won the Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2003.[2] He was runner up in the 2005 Ernst & Young UK Emerging Entrepreneur Of The Year award.[citation needed]

The chairman of Blackcircles.com is Graeme Bissett, former Group Finance Director of Kwik-Fit, and according to Hitwise, the company has the highest website traffic of any online tyre retailer in the UK.[citation needed]

[edit] Further ventures

In 2006, Welch launched Blackcircles franchises, whereby independent garages can sign up to gain access to his stock-checking and ordering system. There are currently 300 garages signed up.[1]

Welch set up www.mechanic-torque.co.uk, in August 2007. The website allows members of the public to ask fully-qualified mechanics for free advice about motoring problems.

Welsh is unmarried and lives in Edinburgh.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b McArthur, Alistair (23 April 2007). Blackcircles drives towards 300 outlets. The Scotsman. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
  2. ^ Shell LiveWIRE Black Circles Ltd. Retrieved on 2007-10-04. Shell LiveWIRE helps 16-30 year olds to start and develop their own businesses, and hosts a national competition for new business start-ups.

[edit] External links