Halfords

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Halfords

Type	Public
Genre	Halfords, BikeHut
Founded	1892
Founder	Frederick Rushbrooke
Headquarters	Redditch, England, UK
Area served	UK, Ireland, Czech Republic
Key people	Richard Pym (Chairman of the board) Nick Wharton, Paul McCleneghan (Acting Joint Managing Directors)
Industry	Retail
Products	Ripspeed, Bicycles and accessories, SatNav, Car audio, Tools, Child seats etc.
Services	'We Fit' Offer - Bicycle repair, vehicle part fitting, audio installation, paint mixing
Revenue	£744 million^[1]
Operating income	▲ £93.5 million^[1]
Employees	10,325^[1]
Website	http://www.halfords.com

Halfords Group plc (LSE: HFD) is a leading retailer of car parts, car enhancement, cycles and travel solutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of the FTSE 250 Index of companies listed by the London Stock Exchange.

1 History
2 Store formats
3 International operations
4 Controversies
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

Halfords traces its origins to a store founded in Birmingham in 1892 by Frederick Rushbrooke as a wholesale ironmongery. The name originates from a store on Halford Street in Leicester, which was opened circa 1902 by Rushbrooke, selling cycling goods. ^[2] In 1906 the 'Halford Cycle Company' was formed.

It opened its 200th store in 1931 and purchased the Birmingham Bicycle Company in 1945. ^[2] In 1968 it opened its 300th store. ^[2]

The company became a part of the Burmah Group in 1969, after a takeover battle that saw Smiths Industries also bidding. Although Frederick Rushbrooke had died in 1953, his son, M. M. Rushbrooke remained chief executive into the 1980s. ^[2]

After this acquisition the company moved to its purpose-built head office and warehouse located in Redditch, Worcestershire. Whilst part of the Burmah Group Dennis Thatcher, husband of then prime minister Margaret Thatcher, was a non-executive director of Halfords. It is still located in Redditch today in 2008.

The previous red, white and blue corporate identity of Halfords was introduced in the 1980s. This consisted of the Halfords name in white upon a blue background, with a white and red flat head screw design on the 'o' of the name.

In 1984, the business was acquired by Ward White Group but subsequently acquired by the Boots Group in 1991 ^[2] and in 2002, the company was taken over by CVC Capital Partners from the Boots Group and in 2004 was floated on the London Stock Exchange. On 11 July, 2005 Halfords would enter into a Collaboration Agreement with Autobacs Seven Co.,^[3] a Japan based car accessory retailer with chains of stores all over the world and who is best known in other countries that do not have an Autobacs store for being the title sponsorship of Super GT and D1 Grand Prix. On 13th December, Autobacs acquired 5% (11,400,000 shares) of the company at approximately ¥7.5 billion. ^[4]

Under the control of Chief Executive Officer, Ian McLeod, formerly Chief Executive of Celtic F.C., Halfords now boasts 420 stores across the UK. The chain is currently benefiting from the interest in car modifying culture, having acquired the Ripspeed brand in 1999. To compete in the ever increasingly competitive performance market, they are now starting to rebrand the Ripspeed franchise as RipspeedX with a new corporate identity.

Halfords announced Mr McLeod's intention to leave Halfords on 29th February 2008 to join Australia's largest retaier, Wesfarmers. Until a permanent successor is announced, current Finance Director Nick Wharton and Trading Director Paul McClenaghan will act as joint managing directors until a new CEO has been hired.

[edit] Store formats

Halfords currently operates stores under a variety of formats, each in different sizes selling a different range of products.

Halfords Superstore = Large out of town stores, often located on retail parks which sell a large range of their products. They are increasingly built in arcade style formats with a mezzanine level and sub shops for its sub-brands like Bikehut and Ripspeed. They sell other ranges for example camping and outdoor leisure
Halfords Metro = These are larger town centre stores which sell a smaller range than their larger out of town stores but a larger range than the high street stores. They focus on cycles and cycling accessories as well as motoring products.
Halfords High Street = Much smaller stores selling only a very small range. They mainly focus on their core products.
Bikehut = Stores named after their sub-brand, Bikehut. They sell cycles and cycle accessory products and are located in town centres. As a standalone format, they were introduced in 2007 and the first store was opened in Brighton. Subsequent stores have opened in Putney, Twickenham and Dorking as the company continues its plans to roll them out throughout the UK.

[edit] International operations

Halfords currently operates stores in the UK and Ireland, with stores opened in the Czech Republic in July 2008. It was piloted by opening two stores to begin with, however if these are a success, there are plans to open up to 150 more.^{[citation needed]} The Czech Republic was chosen after research suggested the average age of cars in the Czech Republic is older than in most other European countries.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Controversies

Halford was involved in a legal dispute with Italian bicycle manufacturer Carrera over its name as they sold bicycles that was in fact manufactured by the Taiwanese manufacturer Merida Bicycle Company and not the handmade bikes of its Italian counterpart. Halford, through a legal loophole, was eventually permitted to use the Carrera brand on its bicycles.^[5]