Receivers Called In At Just Tyres

On October 12th, the management of Just Tyres Holdings Ltd. called in the Administrative Receiver as the group was unable to carry on trading. The group consists of the 90-outlet Just Tyres retail chain, the Southam Tyres wholesale operation, the Autostop independent dealer network (run by Southam Tyres) and the Autostop Fleet Network.

Immediate steps were taken to reduce costs, with the closure of the Autostop Fleet Network and 40 of the 90 Just Tyres retail depots. This latter move resulted in 100 redundancies, or around one third of the group’s workforce. The Receivers, Ernst & Young, have said that they are willing to sell the group as a whole or, as would seem to be more likely, in separate component parts.

Receivers were called in on a Friday and, by the next Monday, were already reporting “considerable interest”. Whenever a retail group comes on the market, the name of Kwik-Fit is inevitably mentioned (and sometimes justifiably so – it was Kwik-Fit that bought Montinex just over a year ago, after all). Before ringing the Receivers, I contacted Peter Holmes, Kwik-Fit’s Group Marketing Director; an action that might be described as “cutting out the middle man”.

However, at the time of writing, Kwik-Fit is giving nothing away apart from the stock answer that “we always look at opportunities as and when they arise.” Neither was the Receiver naming any names, saying only that enquiries had been received from “some companies that you would doubtless recognise” although he declined my offer to see if that were the case. Times are hard for some wholesalers today; was it this that had contributed to the demise of Just Tyres Holdings, I asked Alan Baldwin, Director and General Manager of Southam Tyres? Exactly the opposite was his response, with the wholesale operation having been dragged down by on-going losses at Just Tyres, with borrowings proving too costly for the group to maintain.

The fact that nearly half of the chain’s depots have been closed immediately is no doubt indicative of where things were going wrong. Southam Tyres, said Alan, continues to trade and is in profit for the year. Last year the company made a six-figure profit, he added.

Alan confirmed that there has already been immense interest in Southam and he is confident that the business will be sold very quickly, describing its past performance as “extremely efficient, reputable and profitable.” He said that he was “extremely proud” to have been associated with Southam over the past fifteen years and that he had the utmost confidence for its on-going future. Alan paid tribute to the staff of Southam (around 50), whom he said had “worked tirelessly over the years” to make Southam Tyres a profitable business and the current situation is no reflection on their efforts or ability.