Dr Michael Welch
OBE FRSE

Dr Michael Welch OBE FRSE is a British entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist, best known for founding Blackcircles.com, the online tyre retailer acquired by Michelin in 2015 in a deal announced at £50 million.

He left school at 16 and worked as a tyre fitter before establishing his first business, Motorforce, at 17 with the support of a £500 grant from The Prince's Trust. Motorforce was later sold to Kwik Fit, where he worked in e-commerce before founding Blackcircles.com in 2001.

Michael subsequently moved much of his entrepreneurial activity to the United States, founding the online tyre marketplace Tirescanner and becoming President and CEO of the combined Tirescanner and Tirebuyer business. In 2026 he founded Rolo Tires.

Fostered from birth and later adopted, Michael has a longstanding personal commitment to fostering, adoption and youth enterprise. He was appointed OBE in 2016, received an honorary Doctorate of Enterprise from Edinburgh Napier University in 2016, was awarded the Royal Society of Edinburgh's Henry Duncan Medal in 2017, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2024.

Dr Michael Welch OBE FRSE is a British entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. He is best known for founding Blackcircles.com, the online tyre retailer acquired by Michelin in 2015, and is the founder of Rolo Tires, a direct-to-consumer tyre company launched in 2026.

Michael began his career in the tyre industry as a teenager. He left school at 16 and worked as a tyre fitter, and at 17 established his first business, Motorforce, with the support of a £500 grant from The Prince's Trust. Motorforce was subsequently sold to Kwik Fit, where Michael worked in e-commerce before establishing Blackcircles.com in 2001.

Founded in 2001, Blackcircles pioneered online tyre retail in the United Kingdom, allowing motorists to buy tyres online and have them fitted through a network of local garages. It became one of Britain's better-known consumer e-commerce businesses of its era, and Michelin acquired it in May 2015 in a deal announced at £50 million.

Michael then moved much of his entrepreneurial activity to the United States. He founded Tirescanner, a US online tyre marketplace. Tirescanner combined with Tirebuyer in 2021, and Michael became President and Chief Executive of the combined business. The technology, operating capability and commercial platform built around those US tyre businesses subsequently developed into Treadsy. Michael completed his involvement with Treadsy in 2025.

In 2026 he launched Rolo Tires, a new direct-to-consumer tyre company focused initially on Europe, with first European sales planned for 2027. He also established Anglo Atlantic, through which he pursues investment and advisory opportunities in the automotive aftermarket.

Alongside his commercial career, Michael has a longstanding personal connection to fostering, adoption and the creation of opportunity for young people. He was fostered from birth and subsequently adopted. He and his wife established The Welch Trust in 2015, where he is Founder and Chair of Trustees. He is a Trustee of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption in the United States, and sits on the Advisory Board of The King's Trust USA, the organisation that, in its earlier form as The Prince's Trust, backed his first business.

Michael was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2016 for services to business and to voluntary and charitable work. In the same year, Edinburgh Napier University awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Enterprise. In 2017 the Royal Society of Edinburgh awarded him its Henry Duncan Medal for his outstanding business leadership, and in 2024 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE), Scotland's national academy.

He is based in Miami, United States, with business interests across the United States and Europe.