Wiggle administration results in mass redundancy

By Tom Kilkelly

2 November 2023

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Credit: WiggleCRC

WiggleCRC, the Portsmouth-based online sports retailer, has gone into administration appointing FRP Advisory as its administrators.

The firm has gone up for sale and also made over 100 of its 1000 staff redundant nationwide, affecting its bases in Portsmouth and Belfast as well as its 320,000sq ft warehouse in Wolverhampton.

Founded in 1995 as Butler’s Cycles before, the company moved into online retail as Wiggle in 1999. It became WiggleCRC in 2016 when it merged with its main rival, Chain Reaction Cycles, combining the two largest companies in the UK online cycle retail market.

In its most recently filed financial statement in August, WiggleCRC reported a pre-tax loss of £97m for the year to September 30, 2022.

A statement from the administrators said: "We’d like to reassure customers that all operations are running as normal, including the websites and online sales of Wiggle.com, ChainReactionCycles.com and Hotlines-UK.com."

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WiggleCRC called in the administrators on October 25. Alistair Massey, joint administrator, said: “We are actively marketing the business for sale and are already in discussion with a number of interested parties so would encourage any potential buyers to get in touch without delay.”

The company has reported on its website that 'All orders made with Wiggle will continue to be delivered as usual, and our standard terms and conditions still apply for item returns and warranty claims'.

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is considering a takeover deal. If this is the case it would follow a series of acquisitions made by Frasers Group, following its purchase of German chain SportScheck, another subsidiary of SSU.

By Tom Kilkelly

Tom Kilkelly started working as a freelance journalist for The Business Magazine following his graduation from UCL in 2022.

During his studies Tom became very interested in the works of Irish authors including Samuel Beckett and Flann O'Brien (Brian O'Nolan).

His current role as a freelance business reporter is his first exposure to the world of business journalism. Working at TBM has given Tom the chance to really get to grips with the goings-on in the business hive that is the South East.