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Halfords Group plc
Halfords sells car parts, bikes, and cycling gear and fixes cars for drivers in the UK and Ireland.
Halfords is the shop where a lot of British drivers and cyclists end up. It sells the stuff you need to keep a car running or a bike on the road — batteries, wiper blades, bulbs, oil, child seats, helmets, and whole bicycles — and it also runs garages that will fit those parts or do the repair for you.
The company has two big halves. The retail side sells car and cycling products through its stores and online. The services side is where it makes a lot of its money and its reputation: Halfords garages do MOT tests, servicing, brake jobs, and tyre fitting, and the company also runs a mobile service that comes to your home or workplace to fix your car. The pitch is convenience. You can drop the car off, get the bike checked, and buy what you need in one trip, rather than hunting for a specialist for each job. Halfords is also a big force in cycling. It owns the bicycle brands Boardman and Carrera, and it owns the bike repair and retail chain Cycle Republic's brand history along with Tredz, an online bike shop it acquired. That matters because cycling is seasonal and weather-dependent, which makes the business lumpier than it first looks. Car maintenance is steadier — people still need an MOT and a new battery whether or not the sun is out — so the car side acts as ballast while bike sales swing with the seasons.
The awkward truth about Halfords is that it sits in a squeeze. On car parts it competes with big online sellers and with the fast-fit chains like Kwik Fit (owned by Itochu), plus thousands of independent garages. On bikes it competes with specialist retailers and with online players. Its edge is its physical footprint and the trust of being a familiar high-street name, but that also means it carries the costs of stores and staff that pure online rivals don't. It pays a dividend and has bought back shares, and it has been pushing its services and mobile fitting as the growth engine, because fitting a part yourself is the one thing a website can't do for you.
Saved answer · last researched 14 Nov 2026