As reported in the Tyre & Accessories magazine, Micheldever’s retail arm, Protyre, is the fastest growing tyre retailer in the UK.
Find out a little more about Protyre’s point of difference that has seen it successfully grow into one of the largest tyre retailers in the UK.
The UK tyre retail landscape
Tracking 20 of the largest tyre retailers in the UK, Tyre and Accessories also provided a brief summary of the tyre retail market which made the Protyre growth story more impressive. Among the 20 retailers the survey tracks it has noticed three noticeable trends:
Stabilisation - Many of the firms being tracked have remained flat year on year. Over a 3 year period the number of retail outlets is roughly 103 sites larger. As outlets would not open where there is no demand it could be argued that the worst of the pressure on tyre retailers could be over.
Growth – Year on year the 20 retailers being tracked have grown by 30 branches (1920 in 2014/15 vs 1950 2015/16). At the time of printing Protyre had been recorded at 88 centres (the network is now at 94) which was a growth of 21 centres. So much of the growth in this sector has come from the Protyre retail division.
Attrition – Not all retailers have seen growth or managed to achieve a stabile position in the market. Both Kwik Fit and ATS Euromaster have seen the sizes of their networks shrink.
Commenting on the Protyre Network Simon Hiorns was quoted in the article as saying, “The Market has remained a tough one, with overall tyre volumes flat, prices consistently falling until very recently and the impact of the large internet players compressing margins and taking customers out of the conventional market, all making it hard work for the retailers. We are committed to continuing to be a best in class retailers with a focus on high customer service and sensible pricing. We have grown by acquiring existing, high quality, established businesses with a reputation for good service already built by committed owners and we are still looking to expand a little further where there are owners looking to sell businesses that meet those criteria.”