Mike Welch

Mike Welch

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

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.

Blackcircles.com

He immediately set up Blackcircles.com, which now has a turnover of approximately £10 million a year.cite web |url=http://business.scotsman.com/retail.cfm?id=620372007 |title=Blackcircles drives towards 300 outlets |author=McArthur, Alistair |date=23 April 2007 |publisher=The Scotsman |accessdate=2007-10-04] The company, based in the Scottish Borders town of Peebles, is the first ever franchised online tyre ordering service.Fact|date=October 2007 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. [cite web |url=http://www.shell-livewire.org/awards/main.php?catid=41&subcatid=&artid=1055945850.567 |title=Shell LiveWIRE Black Circles Ltd |accessdate=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.] He was runner up in the 2005 Ernst & Young UK Emerging Entrepreneur Of The Year award.Fact|date=October 2007

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.Fact|date=October 2007

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 900 garages signed up.

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.

References

External links

* [http://www.blackcircles.com blackcircles.com]
* [http://www.mechanic-torque.co.uk mechanic-torque.co.uk]


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