http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/brexit-blamed-for-redundancies-at-planet-x/020270

Cutting half their staff and blaming brexit.

Though an £18million turnover for £100k profit doesnt seem to leave much margin for error!

118 staff and none of them know how to make an outgoing phone call…..

Bugger for the individuals concerned but having to knock stuff out cheap because quality and customer service are crap was always likely to end up in tears.

That’s savage, commiserations to anyone now facing the axe.

Don’t assume tiny profit margins.

Low profit may have been because they keep buying bankrupt brands – and have they been opening new shops?

Profits aren’t always a great indicator of performance alone, more telling might be the £2m drop in sales compared to the year before.

As for blaming Brexit. I’ve no reason to doubt them, but they do have to give a reason for redundancies, but it could just as easily be part of a larger restructuring – they closed their US operation too. If I worked there I’d be angry if they didn’t elaborate on the particular reasons – we’re only a few months into the shit storm.

I assumed the loss last year and low profit this year were as a result of closing the loss-making US division not an indicator of the profit margins they work to.

I don’t blame it on Brexit (or the boogy) I blaim LondonRoadSeattubegate.

Barnsley store has been closed for a few weeks, that’s usually where I have my stuff delivered to. Originally told it had been closed for refurbishment but cant find it on their website now

Londonroadseattubegate 😆

Brexit is being blamed

Unless I can’t see all the article, it doesn’t elaborate on why Brexit.

I stopped ordering when they put up there postage price/limit.

To spend £25 isn’t that hard. Add in a bottom bracket, chain, bar tape, grips and you can easily build up to the free pstage amount with things you’ll use eventually. With it being £50 or £3.95 most of the bagains I see aren’t really bargains.

That and I’ve had a couple of bad experiences with clothing that mean I don’t bother anymore.

Shame though

They’ve got a new Full Monty bike now. Looks a lot like the London Road but with different dropouts and flat mounts brakes. Wonder what the seat tube on those is like?

http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/gravel-adventure-bikes/full-monty

Less Brexit and more just due to the poor running of the company. Feel free to explain how the losses in 2015, the poor customer service, the lack of QA/QC and the general mess of brands are due to Brexit?

I think PX are exactly the sort of company that’d blame brexit for all their woes regardless of truth tbh, it’s a useful way to bury other bad news, and I think they probably have plenty of that. Obviously they’re an importer and price-shagger so that’s got to be affected by the currency rates but otoh they’re a constant price fluctuator too so I reckon the question is really, do they actually sell much at RRP? If they do, then they can deal with a price rise, if they’re dependent on their fake “discounting” then that got harder… To me they’re not a brand that can put prices up, you can get away with selling cheap shit but it’s not so easy to sell midpriced shit… but I’m probably not typical.

Oh sod off brexit. Maybe if they looked at how painful the truth is. Can’t remember when I last shopped there.

Drop in the pound because of Brexit + tiny profit margins on imported goods = bad outlook, time to reduce other costs. It’s pretty clear why Brexit is at fault. The price of some of the carbon frames they badge up as On Ones have gone from £200 to £300 on Aliexpress in the last year or so, that’s got to hit their profits.

Noticed they ditched Topcashback and Quidco a few weeks back.

I don’t believe Brexit is the real reason, I think it’s more to do with customers being more savvy to their yo-yo pricing eg. the bung for the Carbon Fatty Fork is now 3x the price it was mid summer; plus their handling of issues such as “OvalSeatTubeGate.”

Started out with a good ethos, now for a couple of years at least jumping on every bandwagon going with pile it high sell me cheap tat, questionable quality control and crap customer service on top and they blame outside forces?? Err don’t think so.

Doubt Brexit is the whole story, but for a comapny built on importing cheaply form the far east, having the arse fall out of your currency is going to sting.

I’m sure Brexit is a reason.

Why oh why don’t they tidy their bike/frame offerings up and make some nice relevant hardtails again though?

I want a c456 29er!

Because Brant isn’t there anymore.

I am sure the origin of a lot of the stuff they sell will have hurt them, but so will what they sell and how they deal with issues with what they sell. I will never use them again because of their customer service on a still-in-warranty 1K bike, and can’t be the only one. Ad in what a google of London road will get you or the repaired ti frames on ebay(I mean really,why not just sell them for scrap?)and I think they have gone a long way from the model that made them successful.

Perhaps they can sell off those Jimmy Savile bikes to raise a bit of cash…

Maybe if they looked at how painful the truth is. Can’t remember when I last shopped there.

Same here. I gave up on them a long time ago. It’s not like the competition (Wiggle/CRC/Merlin) got better, planetX just got immensley more sh**ter

^^^

This (damn, people beat me. Agreeing with Duckman’s comment!)

I used to be a fanboi of PX and OO. But after the customer service woes I experienced, which turned out to be a known fault, I wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole. Especially as they then seem to sell on the returned/broken frames to that dodgy Golf Shop on eBay.

Shame – once were good. Then not. If you believe Charles Darwin, they ain’t fit anymore.

Visibly a lot less component stock on the website in the last 12 months that’s for sure,

The exchange rate crash (as a direct result of Brexit) was probably the thing that tipped them over so although they already had problems it was Brexit that broke the camel’s back.

Shame really. I remember dealing with OO when Brant was there. Good product but sold cheap. You knew what you were buying. Now it’s just a cheap tat with a mid range price. Reputation really means a lot in the MTB world. Look at Hope & Exposure, yes their stuff can be expensive but riders don’t often mind paying a bit more for decent stuff with great service.

mrjmt –

chakaping » I’m sure Brexit is a reason.
Why oh why don’t they tidy their bike/frame offerings up and make some nice relevant hardtails again though?

Because Brant isn’t there anymore.[/quote]

OO have always lacked consistency and logic in their frame range.

Its last accounts show an annual turnover of £18.3 million, and profit of £109,689. In 2015 the company made a loss of £86,594 on a turnover of £20 million.

Clearly from that it shows all they need to do is further reduce turnover to increase profit. This probably explains their customer service model, if they ended up with too many repeat customers it could cost them a fortune.

(I am available for further business consultancy at a cracking day rate)

I’m amazed that they employ 100+ staff…

I’d have assumed that operation could have been run by 20-30 people.

I stopped ordering when they put up there postage price/limit.

To spend £25 isn’t that hard. Add in a bottom bracket, chain, bar tape, grips and you can easily build up to the free pstage amount with things you’ll use eventually. With it being £50 or £3.95 most of the bagains I see aren’t really bargains.To me this exemplifies the problem with the race-to-the-bottom, and why it really isn’t worth it (and neither are the customers you end up with!!)

Whilst laying off half your staff is pretty brutal, it’s not the most regrettable thing they’ve done…

Ouch!

LoL 🙂 dicks..

I will never use them again because of their customer service on a still-in-warranty 1K bike, and can’t be the only one

I’m the same, bought a set of a57 wheels a few years ago, bearings on the rear failed after less than 400 miles, sent them back, got an email from px to say ‘we’ve inspected them, bearings are a consumable but as a gesture of goodwill we’ll replace them’, wheels returned 6 weeks later, new bearings lasted less than 300 miles this times – that’s less than 2 weeks commuting. Binned them, never bought from px again.

In general their stuff is crap, that’s why it’s cheap, its not a bargain it’s just cheap tat.

duckman – Member

or the repaired ti frames on ebay(I mean really,why not just sell them for scrap?)

They do- then ESCGolf stick random bits of titanium over the cracks with birdshit and chewing gum, and declare it to be excellent quality. In this one thing, it’s not really On One’s fault I think- it just fits perfectly with their hard-earned rep.

Might get my inbred while I can…..

Well, i’m not a PX hater and have not experienced any issues with them, and will likely buy a few bits and bobs from them because there are still bargains to be had (Parkwood frame for £89?).

BUT, it is clear the business is run pretty poorly. I think blaming Brexit is a bit of an excuse and not a real reason, possibly a factor among others. I think all of the (very valid) gripes listed so far are outward signs of this. Their bewildering range of bikes and bizarre parts and clothing shows a lack of strategic thinking. I find their ‘every friday’ sales promotion fairly pathetic, as it focuses on flogging 3 year old bib shorts at implausible discounts. Also, they still haven’t employed anyone to proofread or update their website, which adds to the feeling of lack of professionalism.

It’s a shame, because they have some decent bikes in their range, and if they tried i’m sure they could make it work better. Instead they have people like Alpkit coming along and showing them how to do it properly (not a complete or fair comparison, but an example of doing things well).

I’m saying brexit isnt completely right although this combined with a rumour I heard about a year(?) ago about issues will create a storm I guess.

Real shame for the workers involved, never had a problem with any products from On One and have ridden one of their frames for years now.

Looking forward to seeing the new Ti 456 coming out soon

Didn’t Loughran (Planet X boss) claim his hero was Mike Ashley a while ago?