Former AA Tyre Fit general manager David Goodyear has emerged as managing director of Farmer Autocare, the fast-fit brand established by Kwik-Fit founder Sir Tom Farmer.

He has day-to-day control of Farmer Autocare, which currently has 10 outlets in Scotland – five owned outright by Sir Tom – and which plans to extend the franchise to 40 centres in the central belt between Glasgow and Edinburgh over the next 18 months.

Opening branches in England has not been ruled out.

Goodyear was a senior manager at Kwik-Fit for 10 years before establishing the mobile TyreServe chain – bought by the AA in 2002, renamed AA Tyre Fit and one of the casualties of the roadside assistance organisation’s restructuring in October, which also saw the closure or sell-off of its 122 service centres.

Based at Farmer Autocare’s head office in Edinburgh, Goodyear says he and Sir Tom had been in discussion for some time before his move from Coventry to Scotland to lead the Farmer management team.

One of his chief responsibilities is assessing candidates to take on the franchise, which involves a co-ownership investment of between £24,000 and £45,000 by the franchisee in return for a start-up contribution of the balance of up to £100,000, plus equipment, stock marketing and training from Farmer. In most cases, premises are leased to franchisees.

“Sir Tom really wants to take a back seat from Farmer Autocare – he has several other interests including property,” says Goodyear.

“He’s asked me to manage and develop the business, whether that’s 20 or 200 outlets. He’ll be available to offer his advice whenever that is required.”

Goodyear confirms he is concentrating on establishing the network of part-owner franchises across Scotland in line with plans outlined by Sir Tom in December, 2004.

“There’s a lot going on at the moment,” he says. “And, yes, if anything comes up south of the border we’ll certainly look at it.”