Halfords invests £8m in mobile tyre fitting business

CYCLING, leisure and motoring retailer Halfords has invested £8m acquiring a minority stake in a mobile tyre fitting service.

The Redditch-based company said the investment in TyresOnTheDrive.com would see the two companies develop opportunities together by leveraging each others’ capability and expertise.

The agreement includes projects to deliver certain sales and cost synergies and the opportunity for Halfords to trial a broader mobile delivery offer for its motoring services.

The announcement corresponded with a Q3 update which revealed group revenue rose 11.4% in the 15 weeks to January 13. Revenue for the year to date is up 8.1%.

Revenue was up across all its operations on a like-for-like basis except for its normally successful Autocentres business (down 0.6% for the period). However, the Autocentres operation is still up 0.4% for the year to date.

The company said there was no change in its full year profits forecasts, which remained in line with market expectations.

Jill McDonald, chief executive, said: “I am very pleased with the strong sales performance across our business in the important third quarter of the year. We continue to make good progress implementing our ‘Moving up a Gear’ strategy which will enable us to capitalise on the long-term growth opportunities in our markets. We benefited from growth in new ranges, our unique ‘wefit’ services and great execution by our colleagues over the busy peak period.”