Edinburgh tyre price comparison and booking start-up looks to accelerate growth

A tyre price comparison and booking start-up founded by a former Kwik-Fit and Ominfone software engineer is eyeing further expansion after rapid growth during lockdown.

Launched in 2019, Edinburgh-based TyreRunner.com has tapped into the booming demand for online tyre sales.

While online tyre sales accounted for less than 3 per cent of total sales in the UK in 2010, by the end of 2021 it is expected that they will account for as much as 20 per cent of the market.

TyreRunner.com already compares tyre deals, reviews, and fitting availability at more than 5,000 fitting centres across UK towns and cities.

Launched in 2019 by the former Kwik-Fit and Ominfone software engineer turned serial company founder Bryan MacMillan, TyreRunner.com is supported by a board of tyre industry veterans. Picture: Stuart Vance

Company founder Bryan MacMillan said he was looking to increase the firm’s headcount of five permanent staff, which is augmented by a number of freelancers, to ten by the end of year.

Revealing year-on-year growth of 800 per cent, he said: “Tyres are an industry filled with jargon and it’s often difficult and time consuming for drivers to check all compatible options that are available to them, online and offline, at a time and place convenient to them whether it’s in a branch, or by a mobile fitting vehicle in their driveway.

“Our aim is to expand our same-day booking facility so that every town in the UK has a same-day mobile or in-centre fitting option available to them within a five-mile radius.”

He added: “Tyre Runner is not another internet tyre retailer, but a platform for internet and independent retailers to compete alongside the national and regional chains, letting retailers differentiate themselves based on service, reliability, reviews, availability of both tyres and booking appointments, and not just price alone”.

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