Michael Welch left school at 16 to become a tyre fitter in Liverpool. He launched his first tyre business in his teens before being head-hunted by Kwik-Fit. Blackcircles.com was launched in 2001 as a revolutionary new way to buy tyres and have them fitted.
In 2011, Tesco-Tyres.com was launched. The website offered Tesco Clubcard points on all tyre purchases giving customers even better value for money. Tesco-Tyres.com was later merged into Blackcircles bringing with it the Clubcard incentive offer.
'Blackcircles Pit Stop' convenience format was launched in 2013 and the first sites are live in Tesco forecourts at Bletchley, Wilmslow and Cambridgeshire.
Former Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy is a shareholder in Blackcircles & mentor to Michael Welch.
MOTORSPORT SPONSORSHIP
Blackcircles announced an exclusive sponsorship deal for the (then) new Sky Sports Formula 1 channel in May 2012 – a month in which the Sky cross-platform broadcast service received 6 million unique viewers.
Of the sponsorship, Blackcircles.com’s Managing Director, Michael Welch said, “It was proven to be a perfect strategic fit for us. Agreeing the sponsorship with Sky Sports was a very exciting moment in the Blackcircles.com office. Not only on a personal level – we’ve a lot of F1 fans in the office – but also from an advertising point of view.
At the time, Blackcircles.com estimated that their brand message is being viewed around 16 million times each month. “The fact that this and last season have been all about the significance tyres have on the outcome of the standings – from practice through to qualifying and the race itself – we wanted to ensure that we are the first retailer consumers see when the programme finishes and the breaks begin. It has been a real achievement and coup for us – beating off competitors with much deeper pockets to win the official sponsorship,” added Michael.
NEW ERA
With the FormulaE sponsorship is quite different from the Formula1 partnership as tyres are less critical in Formula E; there are no tyre changes in the race – all teams will use one set of the Michelin all-season Pilot Sport EV tyre - but the reliability and performance of the tyres will play a big part in the outcome of the race.