Interview with
Mike Welch
“I know the reason I’m driven is
because I had a challenging period
early on in my life”
The Red Triangle was delighted to catch-up with business management graduate Mike Welch 12 years after
first appearing in the magazine. Mike is one of Scotland’s most successful entrepreneurs and in 2015 sold
his business Blackcircles.com to tyre giant Michelin. Here, Mike talks about moving from his home town
of Liverpool to Edinburgh to take up his part-time Business Management degree and what it meant to be
recognised this year with not only an OBE but also an Honorary Doctorate.
You described your part-time
Business Management degree
at Edinburgh Napier as the
practical course you were
looking for - how has your
degree stood the test of time?
“It’s been the foundation for
all of the practical challenges
I’ve faced in business. I had
already done about a third of
a similar course in Liverpool
before moving to Edinburgh at
the age of 19. So when I came
to Edinburgh Napier I was able
to focus on the modules that I
thought would be most useful.
I wanted to understand the
fundamental building blocks of
business, such as finance and
accounting - which weren’t my
strong points.
Interestingly
when I was at
school, if there was a
subject that didn’t have
a practical element, I
was never interested.
So the modules I
studied at Edinburgh
Napier meant I could
apply my learning in a
business context. The
course was exactly
what I needed. It was
a great springboard
and I was taught by
academics who had
industry experience,
meaning that the
content was applied to
real life scenarios.
12 Feature - Mike Welch
You had already started your
own tyre business in Liverpool
before moving to Edinburgh.
You once said that the city of
Liverpool was crucial to your
success, how so?
The move to Edinburgh came
when you were headhunted
by Kwik Fit. What impact did
the support you received from
Sir Tom Farmer have on your
career?
“It was so tough to start a
business and despite my
best efforts I kept coming up
against challenges - financial
being the main one. I also
needed to dig deep to promote
my business. That was when
the support from people I knew
in Liverpool came through,
such as the team at the
university where I was then
studying and The Princes Trust.
I was lucky that I found good
people to give me the advice
and encouragement I needed
and who helped guide me to
start my own tyre business.”
“When I think back to the
biggest decision that shaped
the direction of my business,
it was to leave Liverpool and
move to Edinburgh to join Kwik
Fit.
“I was flattered that Kwik Fit
approached me, it was a heavy
weight in the market place and
Sir Tom is still a trailblazer in
the industry. By the age of 19
I thought I was doing well, so
to be given the opportunity to
leave a business you’ve started
and go and work for someone
else was a huge step.
I also learnt that the reason
that Kwik Fit was interested in
me was because I had set-up
an online tyre business, and at
that time the internet was still
fairly new. The team at Kwik
Fit said I would get exposure
to all parts of the business
and they stayed true to that.
I had the opportunity to soak
up information and learn from
the best. The main reason
that I was then able to set-up
Blackcircles.com at the age of
21 was because I had been
given the best grounding.”
Feature - Mike Welch 13