Setting the Wheels in Motion for Business Success

Neill and Ginny Murphy, a team with pioneering ideas on alloy wheel refurbishment in the UK, are franchising their business and looking to recruit 65 franchisees. Neill Murphy said: “The success of the business has been phenomenal and we want to now grow it to become the leading Alloy Wheel Refurbishment Company in the UK. To do that we want to recruit around 65 franchisees who have the desire and enthusiasm to run a thriving business which could make them anything from £50,000 in their first year to £150,000 plus per year net profit.

In 1985 Neill and Ginny set up a division within their company of Lap-Tab UK Ltd called The Wheel Specialist, one of the first companies of its kind in this country, after identifying a growing market for alloy wheel refurbishment. Over the past 20 years the business has continued to grow and they count a number of high profile companies and car enthusiasts including TV presenter and newspaper columnist Quentin Willson amongst their customers.

“Those already working in the tyre industry would be perfect franchisees; they could even offer The Wheel Specialist as an additional service to an existing business enabling them to offer a highly profitable additional service to their customers. Having said that, prior experience is not essential – we need practical, outgoing people who are prepared to work hard for exceptional rewards, Neill Murphy continued, adding:

”’Our business model has two distinct advantages over any competitors. Firstly we do a full refurbishment, fully stripping the wheel back to the base metals if necessary and then professionally recoating rather than just ‘touching up’ the wheel. This means that the customer gets a top quality job and we can recoat wheels in any state.

“Secondly, because we are premises-based our franchisees don’t have to spend time travelling to customers limiting their opportunity. We regularly do 10 sets of wheels a day and get enquiries from all over the country that we cannot satisfy.”

Andrew Thompson, franchisee for The Wheel Specialist in Manchester spoke of his experience.: “As with any new venture you are always nervous about how you will generate your business but I’ve been overwhelmed with the response we’ve had so far in Manchester. We are in the process of setting up the unit but are already receiving roughly 10 requests every day from people wanting their wheels refurbished.”