An update of sorts for those waiting on an order. Got a phone call and an email saying the bike was at the story being built up and would be ready for collection shortly. I didn’t take the call otherwise I would have been straight around and taken the bike in it’s box! Hopefully everyone’s orders will be fulfilled.

OT for @cakeandcheese – not sure which scheme you are using but I *think* the eCertificate for cyclescheme.co.uk can actually be used anywhere (..that accepts cyclescheme).

In any case, it’s not like Evans are going to stop selling bikes although it might be worth waiting till it’s clear orders are being processed as normal and your local store isn’t about to close.

An update of sorts for those waiting on an order. Got a phone call and an email saying the bike was at the story being built up and would be ready for collection shortly. I didn’t take the call otherwise I would have been straight around and taken the bike in it’s box! Hopefully everyone’s orders will be fulfilled.

They could be stalling. If I were you I’d go around and demand it built or not.

“Physically retail is dead in the water except for things like Supermarkets.

The future is online.”

No it isn’t.

“As discussed previously on this thread it really isn’t the only way forward in the bike trade. I know successful and profitable shops. They just know how to get it right.

As the t shirt says the internet can’t fix my bike still applies to a lot of people.”

Yep, just got to find the right LBS.  Mine is great at not only getting what I want/need but will offer advice on alternatives if they don’t have it or don’t stock the brand I’m after.  They also tend to reward me for regular custom by discounting (without me asking!) to the level of CRC and sometimes below it.  When they don’t I never query it as I know they might not have the margin on that item to do so or whatever.  I always expect to pay the sticker price and if they charge less it’s a bonus.  They’ve also helped me out assessing my bike after I was doored a few years ago.  They also sell a lot of bikes and not just in the budget range either.  I don’t think they even have a bike below £500 on the shop floor!  Always busy, has a decent online presence for bike sales and is a welcoming place to go to, never seen or heard them belittle a newbie for not knowing something basic for example.  All of this is basics of retail, any shop can do it if they want to and it’s all things you won’t get online.

benpinnick
It was always going to be a pre-packaged administration I think. ‘Rescue Plan’ and Sale are not two words that go together otherwise. Unfortunately the company was a basket case with debts massively outstripping its assets (as per 2017 accounts)”

Evans’ biggest creditor is also its owner, the private equity company ECI Partners. When ECI bought Evans they transferred £52m of the £80.4m purchase price immediately back to Evans and charged 12% interest on that “loan”. Halfords actually tried to buy Evans at the same time but were shut out by the previous owners- also a private equity company.

So, essentially they bought Evans with Evans own money then charged punitive interest on it into the bargain. I’ve not seen calculations yet of whether – like Maplin- Evans was actually solvent without those “repayments”, considering the size of the loan and the repayment structure I suspect it was though.

<edit- had a look and this isn’t a proper analysis but yep, the annual cost of those repayments seems to be all that made them lossmaking>

Don’t be ridiculous. Evans has been bought out of administration as a going concern. They are hardly going to stiff the very customers that will keep them afloat. The website is still trading as normal – are all the hundreds of customers buying stuff right now who don’t know about this going to be ripped off – of course not.

If I had a bike on order I wouldn’t be overly worried though a few may not get them and get a refund if there is a supply chain issue.

Edit: this was a reply to a post about running round to grab your bike not to Northwind. I agree with him that the way its been done is very suspect and over the long term Evans will not survive

Just got this email through from Evans’ affiliate program team at Affiliate Window (I do pretty well out of affiliate/performance marketing as a side thing) – doesn’t bode well if they are cutting off marketing channels and not guaranteeing to pay commissions. I’ve made sure I have no Evans links either current or retrospective (old links are being replaced with CRC) on any of my channels. I’ll be **** if they’re getting a single lead from me and not paying out my commissions for them:

Dear Publisher,
 
You may have read in the press that Evans Cycles has been acquired by Sports Direct after going into administration.
 
We are yet to receive confirmation that any trade before or after administration can be paid, so publishers are advised to proceed at their own risk in regards to continuing to send traffic to the site. Awin have decided to keep the programme open as there is some chance Evans Cycles (Sports Direct) will choose to honour sales post administration; however trade prior to this date will need to go through the usual process.
 
We are working with Evans Cycles and Sports Direct to clarify this position as soon as possible and we will keep you informed.
 
Kind regards
 
The Evans Cycles Affiliate Team

==============================<wbr />==============================<wbr />==
You have received this email because you are a member of 
Evans Cycles affiliate program

Don’t be ridiculous. Evans has been bought out of administration as a going concern. They are hardly going to stiff the very customers that will keep them afloat.

PMSL

https://twitter.com/PhilHunt91/status/1046047762708598785/photo/1

Not like there is a template to look at….

“As discussed previously on this thread it really isn’t the only way forward in the bike trade. I know successful and profitable shops. They just know how to get it right.

As the t shirt says the internet can’t fix my bike still applies to a lot of people.”

Maybe if you want to run a tiny LBS, earn the equivalent of a minimum wage and have all the hassle and responsibility of owning a small business.

It’s been discussed many times that people expect to get bikes fixed almost for free.

The snobbery on this thread is quite spectacular and I’m sure all those turning up their noses have never bought any far east mass produced sportswear, or shopped at Amazon, CRC, On One, any other mass discounter etc

Maybe if you want to run a tiny LBS, earn the equivalent of a minimum wage and have all the hassle and responsibility of owning a small business.

It’s been discussed many times that people expect to get bikes fixed almost for free.

Nope decent sized ones making money. Just need to know where to find them and how to do business. Just because you don’t look for them doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

The snobbery on this thread is quite spectacular

Why because we can see mis management and greed that is about to rip apart another part of the high street?

When ECI bought Evans they transferred £52m of the £80.4m purchase price immediately back to Evans and charged 12% interest on that “loan”.

I’m surprised this post hoc accounting trick is legal. I guess they call the £52 m an asset or something since they value the business based on the sale price? Semi-criminal if you ask me?

I’m surprised this post hoc accounting trick is legal. I guess they call the £52 m an asset or something since they value the business based on the sale price? Semi-criminal if you ask me?

Normal practice. I’m sure the Glazers did that to Man U years ago. It certainly feels like something which should be illegal

Why because we can see mis management and greed that is about to rip apart another part of the high street?

The same greed that led Tesco etc to decimate the highstreet. The PSAs about bargains 5-10s at Go Outdoors but no mention of any deals at an Lbs etc.

Unless folk are growing their own food and knitting their own clothing out of wool from their own sheep then we’re all part of the same hypocrisy. Let’s stop pretending otherwise

“As discussed previously on this thread it really isn’t the only way forward in the bike trade. I know successful and profitable shops. They just know how to get it right.

As the t shirt says the internet can’t fix my bike still applies to a lot of people.”

Yep, just got to find the right LBS.  Mine is great at not only getting what I want/need but will offer advice on alternatives if they don’t have it or don’t stock the brand I’m after.  They also tend to reward me for regular custom by discounting (without me asking!) to the level of CRC and sometimes below it.  When they don’t I never query it as I know they might not have the margin on that item to do so or whatever.  I always expect to pay the sticker price and if they charge less it’s a bonus.  They’ve also helped me out assessing my bike after I was doored a few years ago.  They also sell a lot of bikes and not just in the budget range either.  I don’t think they even have a bike below £500 on the shop floor!  Always busy, has a decent online presence for bike sales and is a welcoming place to go to, never seen or heard them belittle a newbie for not knowing something basic for example.  All of this is basics of retail, any shop can do it if they want to and it’s all things you won’t get online.

Tell us who they are, they could probably do with the positive publicity

Gift cards are still being accepted for online orders, at least they were earlier today. I ordered a bike online this morning knowing that it was in stock at the store, I paid for it with a gift card and picked the bike up from the store this evening. Very relived as the gift card was for £2000.

Jesus! Reuters are reporting that SD bought Evans for just eight million! Talk about a fire sale!

https://uk.reuters.com/article/evans-cycles-ma-sports-direct/sports-direct-paid-10-mln-for-evans-cycles-purchase-idUKL3N1XB69S

“Evans has been bought out of administration as a going concern”

Has it?

Mr Ashley’s statement to the press implies that it wasn’t. Companies House implies that something has changed but not what.

It looks a lot like for the moment Evans is operating as if it has been bought as a going concern but hasn’t actually. And that, whilst good for customers short-term because their orders and vouchers are being honoured, stores up problems long-term because eventually some of the creditors won’t get paid.

Well it could have been eight quid, or two, like BHS was sold for.  But I am guessing there isn’t a pension scheme problem there.

There will need to be further injections of cash to keep the business going.  It will be interesting to see if Ashley can make it worth the investment.

I’m no business analyst but my intuition tells me Evans are F***ed !! Feel sorry for the staff getting shafted before Christmas 🙁

And if you’re saying that’s a good week, whilst I appreciate those won’t be their only sales what’s the average margin per bike …. £100????

It’s not like they’re billing £20k a week, then take out staffing, rent, rates, heat, light ….. etc, etc etc …. not surprising it’s a business that struggled to survive as the online competition intensified.

My point there which either I failed to make properly or you failed to pick up on was that the majority of the shop business was cheap bikes. People literally couldn’t have cared less if the bike said Specialized or Trek or Kona or Marin on the downtube: they had £400 to spend and they found the one they felt looked nicest / fitted best.

Maybe part of ther problem was actually that Evans stocked too many brands – it became difficult to differentiate between the offerings at the lower price point and customers were often left with a choice of 4 bikes rather than a choice of 2.

I believe “as a going concern” is more to do with protection of creditors and the capability of the business to carry on.  It doesn’t mean that it will carry on, what Ashley does with his new toy is up to him.

I assume TUPE applies?

TUPE will apply, yes.  That is a matter of EU law and so does not involve the same concept of what a business is as the concept of a “going concern” in business and insolvency law.  Not my area, so I wouldn’t like to say which is the broader definition, but my guess would be TUPE.

Well it could have been eight quid, or two, like BHS was sold for.

Very true, but comparing their situation to BHS is setting a staggeringly low bar!

“Evans has been bought out of administration as a going concern”

Has it?

Apparently 2 of the 8 million has gone into the business so yes it would be a going concern. Going concern is a technical phrase that means the business is sufficiently capitalised in order to continue trading and service its debts for some period of time… I don’t think that has a specific timeline mind.

Does anyone have any idea what this means for bikes on order? Bought and paid for a bike for my daughter due for delivery on Friday? Will she see it or should I be contacting the credit card company?

/

For bikes on order it’s up to you and them whether the new company will want to honour your order or not. Ask.

Warranties and outstanding orders, deposits are being honoured. It was discussed and confirmed RE Pinnacle bikes.

@benpinnick I am not sure what the phrase means in the context of a pre-pack.  Clearly Evans was not a going concern, so the administrators didn’t have anything that could be sold as such.  Only the injection of further cash can turn it into a going concern.  Would the deal with the administrator have obliged SD to inject that cash?  Or to put it another way, was the business sold as a going concern, or sold as a basket case which was then, by choice of the purchaser, turned into one?

Im not sure either, I am sure you could line up your transactions in such a way that the business was a going concern for the few seconds it took you to sign the next piece of paper. However there is the bigger issue of then announcing 50% closures. That would, at least to my mind make a mockery of the concept of going concern, even if its still technically correct.

I’m beginning to wonder if my Specialized Shoes are going to turn up on the forecast date of December or even if they’ll show up at all? I’ve got £150 credit in those shoes due to a previous pair ordered not fitting. Wondering whether just to buy something else for now and go elsewhere for the shoes……

Just picked up my bike. Sign on counter stated that gift cards are no longer being accepted.

 I am not sure what the phrase means in the context of a pre-pack.  Clearly Evans was not a going concern, so the administrators didn’t have anything that could be sold as such.  Only the injection of further cash can turn it into a going concern.  Would the deal with the administrator have obliged SD to inject that cash?  Or to put it another way, was the business sold as a going concern, or sold as a basket case which was then, by choice of the purchaser, turned into one?

The way I understand it that in this case the business retains continuity which I think some people are confusing for being a ‘going concern’. Clearly if the business had sufficient liquidity it wouldn’t have been sold as a pre-pack by the administrator. Some creditors must have lost out here even if the business is now a going concern thanks to SD cash injection. Ashley isn’t going to pay (old) creditors he doesn’t have to. You don’t get to be a billionaire this way.

Interestingly Evans Cycles has now disappeared from Quidco, was there yesterday.

Their price match took longer than usual to come through, small signs of new changes perhaps.

But I’ve had the displeasure of having to deal with shoddy customer service from Agent Provocateur another of MA’s takeovers. It took me a whole 1 1/2 years of chasing to get a full refund (which they don’t do btw).

Just spoke with Evans Customer Service as Sparks said cannot use gift cards for the forseeable future.. tguess I can write the 8 quid off!

now disappeared from Quidco

and currently suspended on my work ‘Additions’ discount scheme.

Quidco on top of price matching always felt too good to be true!

They have just price matched some pedals and helmet for me but going in store to collect.

They have just price matched some pedals and helmet for me but going in store to collect.

at this point I’d have to guess that it’s either sell whatever/however to generate cashflow or the staff don’t give a shit

I would not blame them sorry time of year for this type of news.

Might pop in and offer them a crisp handshake for the most expensive bike left in the shop 😂