Cycling UK Forum

Been announced today that evans will not accept any cycle vouchers that were purchased before ashley took the company over, what a great start from ashley looks like he will treat everyone the same as he does at sports direct, with utter contempt no doubt.

I got an e-mail today

You may be aware that Sports Direct Group, through a subsidiary, recently acquired the business and assets of F.W. Evans Cycles Limited.

Your personal data as held by Evans Cycles has now been transferred to that company, which is now the data controller of your personal data.

We want to reassure you that we will continue to hold your personal data securely and use it as permitted by law and in accordance with our Privacy Policy and your marketing preferences.

I'm not happy about Sports Direct (or its subsidiaries) holding anything about me so I've put in a "data subject access request" to check what they are storing. Given my reasons as a strong distaste of Sports Direct. Once I get that I'll put in a request to have that data erased.

I can't see myself buying anything from them again in the future (given how I feel about Sports Direct and their guy in charge) so probably the best way I can make my point.

Ian

Trouble is, at the rate Ashley is going, he'll soon own every High Street. Evans, Go Outdoors, Millets, Blacks, Frasers, Debenhams, George Fisher of Ambleside, Karrimor......

Then he will run for PM

I think I will avoid Evans now, but I've not bought from Sports Direct for a couple of years and it doesn't seem to have bothered them very much.

Oldjohnw wrote:Trouble is, at the rate Ashley is going, he'll soon own every High Street. Evans, Go Outdoors, Millets, Blacks, Frasers, Debenhams, George Fisher of Ambleside, Karrimor......

I thought Go Outdoors, Millets and Blacks, were JD Sports owned. Or has Sports Direct got an interest there as well?

PH wrote:

Oldjohnw wrote:Trouble is, at the rate Ashley is going, he'll soon own every High Street. Evans, Go Outdoors, Millets, Blacks, Frasers, Debenhams, George Fisher of Ambleside, Karrimor......

I thought Go Outdoors, Millets and Blacks, were JD Sports owned. Or has Sports Direct got an interest there as well?

Ashley owned about a fifth of JD Sports at one time, but he's been selling his stake recently, down below 5% as of May 2016 https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... al-bhs-bid

Psamathe wrote:I got an e-mail today

You may be aware that Sports Direct Group, through a subsidiary, recently acquired the business and assets of F.W. Evans Cycles Limited.

Your personal data as held by Evans Cycles has now been transferred to that company, which is now the data controller of your personal data.

We want to reassure you that we will continue to hold your personal data securely and use it as permitted by law and in accordance with our Privacy Policy and your marketing preferences.

I'm not happy about Sports Direct (or its subsidiaries) holding anything about me so I've put in a "data subject access request" to check what they are storing. Given my reasons as a strong distaste of Sports Direct. Once I get that I'll put in a request to have that data erased.

I can't see myself buying anything from them again in the future (given how I feel about Sports Direct and their guy in charge) so probably the best way I can make my point.

Ian

I've sent an email to cs@sportsdirect.com & contactcentreteam@evanscycles.com asking for them to delete any information they hold about myself on the two email addresses I received the email on.

It has been revealed that nearly all of Evans Cycles’ 62 stores were trading profitably when the chain was sold to Sports Direct last month – despite the latter’s owner, Mike Ashley, at the time saying that around half the shops would need to be closed to save the business.

Sports Direct bought the business in a pre-pack administration deal for just £8 million, with the acquisition leaving the bicycle retailer’s 1,300 staff facing uncertainty over their future.

> Sports Direct buys Evans Cycles out of administration, will close half of its stores

Telegraph.co.uk reports (link is external)says that an administrators’ proposals document prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers said that “almost all the stores were profitable.”

However, the administrators said that Evans, founded in south London in 1921 and now based next to Gatwick Airport in Surrey, was “burdened” by fixed costs associated with its head office.

They added that debts totalled £85 million, mainly to secured creditors, with £28 million owed to the banks HSBC and AIB, and £33 million to private equity firms.

At the time Evans entered administration it was owned by ECI Partners, which had bought the business in 2015 from fellow private equity firm Active Capital.

The remaining £24 million is owed to unsecured creditors, including trade suppliers, who will receive just 2.5 pence in the pound.

All 62 Evans Cycles stores remain listed on the retailer’s website and we are not aware of any of its branches – around half of which are in its traditional heartland of London and the south-east – having closed to date.

I have some good friends work at the Evans store in Edinburgh (Fountainbridge) and they are gutted with the Sports Direct takeover. Apparently the first thing they did was savage all the Evans Facebook pages with their tatty logo, and then they sent letters to all the staff warning them of 'staff redeployment', which is generally perceived as 'redundancy'.

It's a real shame as these guys were prop cycling enthusiasts with 40 years experience between them. Typical SD 'gut them and sell it' mentality. They used to call it asset stripping...

Oldjohnw wrote:Trouble is, at the rate Ashley is going, he'll soon own every High Street. Evans, Go Outdoors, Millets, Blacks, Frasers, Debenhams, George Fisher of Ambleside, Karrimor......

Does he own Decathlon yet?

foxychick wrote:It has been revealed that nearly all of Evans Cycles’ 62 stores were trading profitably when the chain was sold to Sports Direct last month – despite the latter’s owner, Mike Ashley, at the time saying that around half the shops would need to be closed to save the business.

Sports Direct bought the business in a pre-pack administration deal for just £8 million, with the acquisition leaving the bicycle retailer’s 1,300 staff facing uncertainty over their future.

> Sports Direct buys Evans Cycles out of administration, will close half of its stores

Telegraph.co.uk reports (link is external)says that an administrators’ proposals document prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers said that “almost all the stores were profitable.”

However, the administrators said that Evans, founded in south London in 1921 and now based next to Gatwick Airport in Surrey, was “burdened” by fixed costs associated with its head office.

They added that debts totalled £85 million, mainly to secured creditors, with £28 million owed to the banks HSBC and AIB, and £33 million to private equity firms.

At the time Evans entered administration it was owned by ECI Partners, which had bought the business in 2015 from fellow private equity firm Active Capital.

The remaining £24 million is owed to unsecured creditors, including trade suppliers, who will receive just 2.5 pence in the pound.

All 62 Evans Cycles stores remain listed on the retailer’s website and we are not aware of any of its branches – around half of which are in its traditional heartland of London and the south-east – having closed to date.

not a bad deal £8m for I think it was £28m of stock and creditors get next to nowt?

mercalia wrote:

foxychick wrote:It has been revealed that nearly all of Evans Cycles’ 62 stores were trading profitably when the chain was sold to Sports Direct last month – despite the latter’s owner, Mike Ashley, at the time saying that around half the shops would need to be closed to save the business.

Sports Direct bought the business in a pre-pack administration deal for just £8 million, with the acquisition leaving the bicycle retailer’s 1,300 staff facing uncertainty over their future.

> Sports Direct buys Evans Cycles out of administration, will close half of its stores

Telegraph.co.uk reports (link is external)says that an administrators’ proposals document prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers said that “almost all the stores were profitable.”

However, the administrators said that Evans, founded in south London in 1921 and now based next to Gatwick Airport in Surrey, was “burdened” by fixed costs associated with its head office.

They added that debts totalled £85 million, mainly to secured creditors, with £28 million owed to the banks HSBC and AIB, and £33 million to private equity firms.

At the time Evans entered administration it was owned by ECI Partners, which had bought the business in 2015 from fellow private equity firm Active Capital.

The remaining £24 million is owed to unsecured creditors, including trade suppliers, who will receive just 2.5 pence in the pound.

All 62 Evans Cycles stores remain listed on the retailer’s website and we are not aware of any of its branches – around half of which are in its traditional heartland of London and the south-east – having closed to date.

not a bad deal £8m for I think it was £28m of stock and creditors get next to nowt?

Mike Ashley does n+1 like no other, clearly...

Ashley is an economic vulture. High up on a branch sweating and salivating just waiting to swoop down on the next marginally failing high Street opportunity. Anyone who has ever researched the working conditions at Sports Direct will have the measure of the man.

Canuk wrote:Ashley is an economic vulture. High up on a branch sweating and salivating just waiting to swoop down on the next marginally failing high Street opportunity. Anyone who has ever researched the working conditions at Sports Direct will have the measure of the man.

OTOH the vulture has had rich pickings in recent years because retailers (even the 'marginally failing'(?) ones) have signally failed, in many cases, to cope with the changing climate on the High St.

That's not to say that I in any way condone some of the practices that applied (I understand that they are being changed) in Sports Direct, but here is someone who does seem to be able to make a go of High St businesses.