Finanical Times article 15th April 08 Blackcircles.com, an online tyre retailer based in Peebles, has expanded into France. The company, which was established in 2001 by Mike Welch, then a 22-year-old entrepreneur, now has 25 staff and annual sales of £10m.
Through either its website or call centre, customers can choose the type of tyres they want and have them fitted at their local independent garage. The group also offers mobile tyre-fitting services.
Mr Welch, managing director, said the decision to move into France was already bearing fruit. "It's still early days, but the market over there is extremely lucrative and we're already seeing strong sales growth," he said.
The move comes just as Blackcircles.com is about to re-capitalise the business with an additional £500,000 investment from its private shareholder group. With the extra funding in place, the company forecasts that it will treble in size over the next three years.
The chairman of Blackcircles.com is Graeme Bissett, former group finance director of Kwik-Fit.
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