Tyre recycling and reprocessing specialist Murfitts Industries announced today its intention to form a “unique partnership” with French engineering group ETIA. The aim of this partnership is to deliver commercial-scale solutions for recycling end-of-life tyres to recover their raw material and energy content.
Times have been tough in the last couple of years, but if the growth of the top 25 tyre retailers in the UK is anything to go by, the nation’s leading tyre retail businesses are taking triumph from adversity. Of course, Halfords’ acquisition of National Tyres and Autocare’s parent company at the end of 2021 makes up a big part of the new UK tyre retail landscape, but it is clear that adding branches to existing networks (either by organic growth or by acquisition) is a common theme across the board.
European Tyre Enterprise Ltd (ETEL) has announced that CEO Shinjiro (Sean) Tanaka is taking on a new role as group chairman. Replacing him as CEO is Yutaka Kimbara, who is currently group director of the Europe & CIS General Products & Realty Group of Itochu Europe PLC, which is part of ETEL’s parent company Itochu Corp. of Japan.
Itochu’s European Tyre Enterprises Ltd (ETEL) business, which owns Kwik-Fit, Stapleton’s and now Murfitts Industries, posted a loss of 3.6 billion yen (£22.97 million; 27.54 million euros; US$31.55 million) for the financial year ended 31 March 2021. According to Itochu’s annual report, which was published on 17 December 2021, ETEL will return to break-even in full-year 2022 results.
European Tyre Enterprise Ltd (ETEL), which owns leading tyre retail and wholesale operations Kwik-Fit and Stapleton’s, has agreed the acquisition of Murfitts Industries, the country’s leading tyre recycling company. ETEL is buying 100 per cent of Murfitts Group Ltd, the parent company of Murfitts Industries. Murfitts operates a national network recycling the equivalent of around 20 million car tyres per year. Murfitts, which processes and recycles tyres into granulate, has been a long-term provider of post-consumer tyre collection and recycling services to ETEL.
European Tyre Enterprise Ltd (ETEL), which owns both Kwik Fit and Stapleton’s, will rebrand 60 of its Tyre City retail centres as either Kwik Fit or STS Tyre Pros as the company focuses on those two retail channels. According to the company, the decision follows a strategic review over the last few months, which found that ETEL should “simplify its retail operations and operate under two brands, Kwik Fit and STS Tyre Pros”. The transition of the centres to their new brands has begun and will continue over the coming weeks.
Kwik Fit has added Bath to its list of target locations for new centres, making it 25 towns and cities that the UK’s largest retail chain is focusing on. At the start of July Kwik Fit said it is looking for “new centres across the country” especially those with “proximity to supermarkets and leisure facilities”.
Kwik Fit has commissioned property consultancy Rapleys to find “new centres across the country”, in a move that reveals the market-leading fast-fit’s expansion plans.
On 6 May 2021 Yokohama Europe GmbH, signed an agreement to acquire 100 per cent of Poland’s ITR CEE Spółka z.o.o., a wholesale distributor engaged in the import and sale of Yokohama tyres in central and eastern Europe. The acquisition is scheduled to be concluded on 14 May 2021, after which the Polish company’s name will be changed to Yokohama CEE Spółka z.o.o.
ETEL Group, Kwik Fit and Stapletons Tyre Services tyre retail brands, has made Wagestream available to its 7,000 staff. Wagestream offers a suite of financial education solutions including real-time access to earned pay.
While speculation continues relating to the apparent sale of the Kwik-Fit tyre retail business, we do know that the Itochu-owned enterprise sold the freeholds to 26 of its branches in a double-digit million-pound series of transactions during the first half of 2020.
On Friday 18 September 2020, it emerged that Kwik-Fit and European Tyre Enterprises Ltd (ETEL) owner Itochu has appointed investment bankers Nomura to act as its strategic investment consultancy with relation to the future of its European tyre business. The move has been widely interpreted as sale preparation. In light of the news, Tyres & Accessories contacted ETEL and Kwik-Fit representatives in order to find out more. Both declined to comment officially. However, supplementary information on Itochu’s third-quarter 2020 and full fiscal year 2020 results give further details of the conglomerate’s explanation as to why the company did not present a 2021 profit forecast for ETEL as it normally would.
The UK’s largest tyre retailer, Kwik Fit, is being prepared for a sale. The Japanese Itochu group, which owns the European Tyre Enterprises Ltd (ETEL) holding company that controls both Kwik Fit and its wholesale counterpart Stapleton’s Tyre Services, has appointed investment bankers Nomura to advise on strategic options for the company, according to Sky News, with insiders suggesting a sale is very likely.
Central Tyre has appointed former Pirelli and Prometeon sales manager Alex Whittle as sales director. In his new role, Whittle will be responsible for all sales operations across the car, van, truck, industrial and agricultural sectors. His appointment follows a successful growth period within the UK market, according to Central. Central Tyre is part of the UK’s leading ETEL group of tyre retailers, alongside Kwik-Fit and STS Tyre Pros.
At the moment it is easy to get side-tracked by all the talk of the coronavirus. But, while it is clearly an important subject, the tyre business has a century or more of pre-history, has a present and has a future. With this in mind, May’s edition of Tyres & Accessories continues in line with the last eight years of research by counting and ranking the nation’s largest tyre retail chains.
The methodology is simple, we contact companies, consult publicly available sources and use third-party data where necessary in order to triangulate our tyre retail landscape. Of course, the present circumstances may look significantly different due to the nations’ current lockdown status (see “Which Garages are Open During Lockdown“). However, the shape of the tyre retail business before the lockdown will surely help the retail trade strategize for its ongoing future after lockdown, making this data as actionable as ever.
ETEL
Itochu
Murfitts Industries
Prideview; ETEL
Kwik Fit
EMIS
Central Tyre