In the last part of our series of analyses of the leading tyre websites in the UK, we turn our attention to the subject of tyre comparison web sites. The leading tyre comparison sites in the UK based on third-party traffic data for June 2023, found that Tyrereviews.com attracted by far the most page views. Congratulations to them for that! WhatTyre.com is second-place.
In July, TyreSafe held its first post-lockdown in-person day conference and awards event. More recently the NTDA named the winners at its annual Tyre Industry Awards event. And our sister publication WhatTyre.com has also published names of the winners of its 2022 WhatTyre Tyre of the Year awards. What these three things have in common is that they all aim to give credit where credit is due. They all aim to reward success.
TyreRunner.com has appointed Gavin Marshall to its board of directors weeks after TyreRunner.com revealed plans to double headcount. Marshall was previously the CEO of Middlesbrough-based North Eastern Tyres & Exhausts (NETE) which he successfully sold to Stapleton’s tyres, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Itochu corporation of Japan, parent company to Kwik-fit.
WhatTyre has published the nominations for its inaugural WhatTyre Tyre of the Year Awards with a series of articles promoting the nominations, shortlists and winners of the WhatTyre Awards. WhatTyre, a tyre news and comparison site that now attracts over 75,000 visits a month, says the goal of these consumer-facing awards aligns with the ethos of the whole WhatTyre.com concept – “to help consumers find the best tyres for them and to help raise the level of conversation about tyres”.
No-one envisioned just how many challenges the tyre market would have to face this year. As has generally been the case, the trade rose to the occasion by repeatedly pivoting to adjust to mid-pandemic customer demands and government requirements. At the bricks and mortar end of the business this has meant ensuring premises are Covid-secure and there are continuing supplies of PPE – as well as maintaining high standards of tyre service and supply. However, this year has also significantly closed the gap between exclusively conventional bricks and mortar tyre retail businesses and pure play tyre e-tailers, with consumers increasingly planning tyre purchases and looking for contactless servicing options online.
Motoring services website, MotorEasy has acquired tyre price comparison site Motokiki. The acquisition represents the latest addition to MotorEasy’s portfolio of motoring products, which includes insurances, fixed-price repairs, MOTs and servicing, and car leasing. Motokiki was launched in quarter four of 2018, backed by £3 million of equity investment from Maven Capital Partners and the Development Bank of Wales. It entered administration just under a year later, following the resignation of co-founder and CEO Debra Williams. MotorEasy’s announcement claims that Motokiki is “the only independent tyre comparison website”, but a recent Tyrepress survey of the UK market found eight current tyre comparison websites with a variety of approaches, including the independent user review site TyreReviews.co.uk, and Tyrepress’s sister site WhatTyre.com, which uses professional tyre reviews and experienced editors to rank tyres with its Tyrescore system.
Lydia Limited, the company behind tyre price comparison site Motokiki, called in the administrators on 24 October 2019. Simon Girling and Chris Marsden of BDO LLP were appointed Joint Administrators on the same day. Tyres & Accessories understands that the administrators are seeking to sell the technology assets of the company and is seeking offers before a Friday 15 November 2019 deadline.
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Tyre Runner