The Wheel Specialist reported an unexpected surge in wheel refurbishment enquiries at its first-ever virtual conference.

It’s now been a year since many businesses began to suffer the effects of lockdowns and tier systems, but this has led to increased demand for some companies.

Providing vehicle wheel repair and refurbishment services, The Wheel Specialist franchises have remained open for most of the last year.

What will have impressed franchisees the most is not just the fact that they’ve managed to refurbish almost 100,000 wheels throughout the pandemic, but the effect on demand.

Jack Murphy, Managing Director, said: “The amount of quote requests we’ve got coming in has rocketed over the last year; we didn’t expect that at all. When our marketing team brought to my attention that our leads had gone up by 20% on the previous year, even with Covid going on, I almost couldn’t believe it.”

Whilst its wheel refurbishment branches did close their doors for a few weeks last Spring, The Wheel Specialist quickly re-opened after investing in and implementing a new contactless process across the UK.

Phil Jarvis is a recent customer of The Wheel Specialist in Chester, he said: “I was really impressed with the system used to overcome the COVID restrictions, being kept up to date via my mobile at all times with regular updates, also via email. I have recommended the wheel specialist company to many of my friends who have complimented me on the new look to my wheels.”

Whilst it’s not clear exactly what has led to the surge in demand for wheel refurbishment, it doesn’t look like things are due to slow down any time soon. Enquiries for such services tend to peak in the spring and summer months as motorists spend more time taking care of their cars. It’s looking increasingly likely that this effect will again be compounded this year as many of us prepare for road trip ‘staycations’ over travel abroad.