1892 founder f w rushbrooke headquarters redditch england united kingdom key people dennis millard chairman jill mcdonald chief executive products ripspeed bicycles and accessories satnav car audio tools child seats etc. services bicycle repair vehicle part fitting audio installation paint mixing revenue 1 025.4 million 2015 1 1 operating income 87.6 million 2015 1 profit 65.8 million 2015 1 number of employees 11 221 2015 1 subsidiaries halfords autocentre boardman bikes ltd. website www.halfords.com halfords group plc is a british retailer of car parts car enhancement camping and touring equipment and bicycles operating in the uk and ireland . they also provide mot service and repairs in the united kingdom through halfords autocentre . halfords group is listed on the london stock exchange and is a constituent of the ftse 250 index . a similar retail company also called halfords exists in the netherlands and belgium . this only has historical ties to the british halfords group it was formed by halfords then sold . contents 1 history 2 operations 3 sponsorship 4 references 5 external links history edit a halfords in kirkstall leeds former halfords logo introduced in 1994 until 2003 the company was founded by frederick rushbrooke in birmingham in 1892 as a wholesale ironmongery . 2 in 1902 rushbrooke moved to a store on halford street in leicester and the company was named after this street and started selling cycling goods . 2 it opened its 200th store in 1931 and purchased the birmingham bicycle company in 1945 . 2 in 1968 it opened its 300th store . 2 the company became a part of burmah oil in 1965 following a takeover battle between burmah and smiths industries . 2 during this time denis thatcher husband of the future prime minister margaret thatcher was a non executive director . 3 the company was acquired by ward white group in 1983 2 and subsequently acquired by the boots group in 1991 . 2 in july 2002 it was then taken over by cvc capital partners 2 and in june 2004 it was floated on the london stock exchange . 2 in 2003 halfords dropped the blue white and red branding in favour of a new black and orange logo . however the new logo had been used since the previous year but it did not come into effect until 2003 . 4 on 11 july 2005 halfords entered into a collaboration agreement with autobacs seven co. 5 a japan based car accessory retailer with chains of stores all over the world and who is best known in other countries that do not have an autobacs store for being the title sponsorship of super gt and d1 grand prix . on 13 december 2005 autobacs acquired 5 % 11 400 000 shares of the company at approximately 7.5 billion . 6 in 2007 halfords opened its first shop in central europe in a village near prague . in the next two years it opened five more stores in the czech republic and one in poland wroc aw 2008 . expansion into central europe was seen as an opportunity because the cars on the road tend to be slightly older there so people would be more adept at car maintenance . 7 however in 2010 it terminated these activities already after the losses made in the initial years were deemed too high and a new management wanted to focus on the domestic market . 8 on 18 february 2010 the company announced a deal to purchase the nationwide autocentre mot chain from the private equity firm phoenix . the plan was to rebrand the centres under the halfords name and open another 200 . as of april 2015 there are over 250 halfords autocentre garages dealing with mots car repairs and servicing . 9 in june 2014 halfords acquired the british bicycle manufacturer boardman bikes ltd. founded by the professional cyclist chris boardman sarah mooney and alan ingarfield for undisclosed sum . 10 11 in march 2015 it was announced that on 11 may jill mcdonald head of mcdonald s uk since 2010 would replace matt davies who was leaving to join tesco as ceo . 12 operations edit a typical halfords exterior the ocean park store in portsmouth today halfords has two business units halfords retail the original chain of shops and halfords autocentres . since 2010 halfords retail has operated around 465 stores of which about 22 are in the republic of ireland and the others in the united kingdom . 13 the group use the following sub brands as part of their portfolio bikehut boardman bikes 13 bikes carrera bicycles apollo trax victoria pendelton urban escape exodus pampero sendai ripspeed . sponsorship edit the team won the btcc overall drivers championship in 2005 and 2006 with driver matt neal . 14 in 2007 halfords sponsored the team dynamics btcc racing team under the name of team halfords 15 and in 2008 halfords started sponsoring a mixed professional bike team team halfords bikehut headed by nicole cooke 16 which disbanded ahead of the 2010 season . references edit a b c d e annual report 2015 pdf . halfords . retrieved 9 april 2016 . a b c d e f g h i and it s all thanks to a passion for a penny farthing bicycle . london times online . 30 may 2005 . retrieved 5 june 2007 . halfords cleans up in bid to woo women drivers daily mail 21 september 2006 halfords change of style benefits barnado s . retail bulletin . 18 february 2003 . retrieved 9 april 2016 . announcement of collaboration agreement with halfords group plc . autobacs seven co. retrieved 5 june 2007 . announcement of acquisition of stocks of halfords group plc . autobacs seven co. retrieved 5 june 2007 . thompson james 6 june 2008 . halfords looking to branch out into central europe as sales buck downward trend . london independent online . retrieved 13 june 2008 . halfords leaving czech rep and poland after three years focusing on domestic market . autofox . 23 march 2010 . retrieved 25 august 2014 . see also links on the bottom of that article ; see also james moore 24 march 2010 . investment column halfords rides away from central europe . the independent . retrieved 25 august 2014 . . halfords buys car servicing firm nationwide autocentres bbc news online . 18 february 2010 4 june 2014 last updated at 18 05 halfords takes over boardman bikes for undisclosed sum . bbc news . retrieved 20 june 2014 . acquisition of boardman bikes will shift gear at halfords . www.independent.co.uk . retrieved 20 june 2014 . farrell sean 23 march 2015 . halfords hires mcdonald s uk boss . the guardian . retrieved 23 march 2015 . according to the annual report 2009 there were 466 stores including six in central europe and 22 in ireland . in 2010 there were 462 shops left all in the british islands halfords annual report 2010 . this number had grown to 466 in 2013 according to the annual report of that year . btcc action matt neal team halfords field pair of honda civics btcc 13 march 2007 halfords backs cooke for glory cycling weekly 8 january 2008 external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to halfords . official website v t e automotive industry in the united kingdom manufacturing in the united kingdom economy of the united kingdom 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