Former Tesco boss Leahy joins Blackcircles board

Former Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy has been appointed to the board of Blackcircles.com. Leahy has been a shareholder in the online tyre business for around six years and his stake in Blackcircles is now said to be 25 per cent. In his new role, Leahy will work with company founder and chief executive Mike Welch and chairman Graeme Bisset to identify and implement new means of financing ongoing growth within the business. One option that Leahy may be closely involved in is an IPO.

Discussing Leahy’s appointment with The Scotsman, Welch commented “we want to become a big medium-sized business and someone like Sir Terry will help enormously on fund-raising and strategic changes. I have been fortunate to count Sir Terry as an adviser and shareholder, so securing his position on the board is fantastic news for the business at a time when we’re gearing ourselves up for a big push.” Blackcircles currently has approximately 400 franchised partners, and this number is expected to grow to around 1,000 over the coming year and a half.