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True Capital and MMC Ventures back mobile tyre fitting business for around £8m

Cheshire-based mobile tyre fitting business, TyresOnTheDrive.com, has closed an investment round worth up to £8m that included backing from UK retailer Halfords.

The business, which allows users to book tyre fittings at home or at work, was also backed by existing shareholders MMC Ventures and True Capital in the round.

As part of the investment round, Halfords will account for a ‘sub-20%’ stake in the company while an operating agreement between the two firms will see them work together on as yet undetermined initiatives and expanding their mutual services.

Halfords Chief Executive, Jill McDonald, commented that TyresOnTheDrive ‘fits well’ with the retailer’s strategy to develop its service-led offering, and hailed the disruptors convenience-led model.

She said: “We know that convenience and ‘do it for me’ are increasingly important trends for our customers and this arrangement provides an excellent opportunity for us to explore the extension of our customer offer.

“The management team at TyresOnTheDrive.com have developed a sophisticated, customer-centric online platform, resulting in a best-in-class customer experience, throughout the journey from ordering through to fitting. We look forward to working closely with the team to enhance services to our respective customers.”

TyresOnTheDrive.com Chairman, Robert Gorrie, added: “This is a very exciting opportunity for both Halfords and TyresOnTheDrive.com. It is a significant endorsement of the business we are building at TyresOnTheDrive.com.

“Our disruptive, nimble, online and mobile fitting focused tyre business can benefit from and also provide benefit to Halfords in ways that will deliver considerable customer benefit for both businesses.”

Founded in 2011, TyresOnTheDrive.com has significant grown its sales base over the last six years, boasting an average sales growth rate of 92%, with its services now stretching to 85% of the UK population.

The roots of today’s agreement with Halfords, which marks its first tie-up with a major UK retailer, can be traced back to the business’ participation in TrueStart’s retail accelerator programme in London back in 2014, with the venture capital arm of the programme, True Capital, an early backer of the firm.

Paul Cocker, Partner and Co-Founder at True Capital, said that the group recognised early on TyresOnTheDrive’s potential to ‘transform’ the tyre fitting industry with its disruptive, consumer-first approach.

He commented: “As a result of our deep retail network and our excellent relationship with Halfords’ management team, we were able to pair two companies with the potential to work together to create significant value.

“We are confident that the partnership with Halfords, which includes significant investment, will allow TyresOnTheDrive.com to further develop its market-leading, customer-first, technology-led proposition.”