Following Hawleys Tyres Ltd’s winning of the oldest tyre dealer in Britain title, Tyres & Accessories/tyrepress.com has compiled this overview of the company’s extensive history: Hawleys Tyres was formed by Ernest Hawley, a taxi driver who established the business by selling tyres to other taxi drivers in the area in 1910. The business grew gradually as vehicle take-up increased, before Ernest’s son Reg Hawley took over during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. During this period more depots were opened before Reg's sons David and Martin expanded the business in the 1970s. The company is now managed by Martin Hawley, his son Simon and David’s son Tim. The business employs 50 people at five branches in and around Sheffield.

According to company literature, Ernest always had an interest in motorcars, and was one of the few who pioneered motoring in its earliest days. A foreman engineer at Oughtibridge Silica Works by profession, his links with the tyre trade began when he started a motor taxi service from outside a shop that the family owned in Wadsley Lane, in the Owlerton district of Sheffield. The taxi side of the business thrived and Hawley became known for doing a lot of his own repairs. This includes the mending of punctures, which were numerous in the early days, and the fitting of new tyres he obtained. The tyre business began when car owners came to him for help with punctures and even brought tyres bought elsewhere to him for fitting.