Mike Welch (born September 28, 1978) is a British entrepreneur, and managing director of online tyre retailer Blackcircles.com.
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Born in Liverpool, England, Welch left school aged 16 and began working as a tyre fitter. He quit in 1996, just weeks after joining, to launch his first tyre retail business, MW Motorforce. He ran the company from a room in his parents’ house with a mobile phone and help from a £500 grant from The Prince's Trust.
Welch moved to Edinburgh after being head-hunted by Sir Tom Farmer to work as Kwik-Fit’s New Business and e-Commerce Manager in 2000. He left the company two years later after he was told he would have to wait 30-40 years to make chief executive.
He immediately set up Blackcircles.com, which now has a turnover of approximately £10 million a year.[1] The company, based in the Scottish Borders town of Peebles, is the first ever franchised online tyre ordering service. After booking, customers then have their tyres fitted at one of Blackcircles’ network of 987 independent garages.
Welch won the Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2003. He was also runner up in the 2005 Ernst & Young UK Emerging Entrepreneur Of The Year award.
The chairman of Blackcircles.com is Graeme Bissett, former Group Finance Director of Kwik-Fit, and according to Hitwise, the company has the highest website traffic of any online tyre retailer in the UK.
In 2006, Welch launched Blackcircles franchises, whereby independent garages can sign up to gain access to his stock-checking and ordering system. There are currently 900 garages signed up.[1]
Welch set up www.mechanic-torque.co.uk, in August 2007. The website allows members of the public to ask fully qualified mechanics for free advice about motoring problems.
Welsh is unmarried and lives in Edinburgh.