Online cycle business with huge Bilston warehouse and 450 staff to be put up for sale

Wiggle, which has its head office at Portsmouth and employs 450 staff, appointed Anthony Wright and Alastair Massey from FRP Advisory as administrators on October 25.

It is continuing to trade and no jobs have yet been lost at Wiggle, which moved into The Citadel warehouse on the Black Country New Road in 2015 creating an initial 150 jobs.

Mr Massey and Mr Wright from the specialist business advisory firm have also been appointed to Mapil Midco 1 Limited, another company within the Wiggle group.

A group of subsidiary companies that form the remainder of WiggleCRC including Chain Reaction Cycles, Chain Reaction Cycles Retail and Hotlines Europe are expected to be placed into administration imminently.

WiggleCRC was formed in 2017 following the merger of Wiggle and Chain Reaction Cycles. It was later acquired by Signa Sports United in 2021 and now operates a stable of brands across the cycling, triathlon, running and outdoor adventure gear markets, including Wiggle, Chain Reaction Cycles, Vitus, Nukeproof, dhb and Hotlines.

The administrators say WiggleCRC and its brands remain fully operational.

All staff have been retained by the joint administrators at this stage.

The appointment of the administrators and sale process come after the company lost its financial support through its parent company Signa Sports United.

Mr Wright, a partner at FRP, explained: “WiggleCRC is one of Europe’s best-known sports retailers and has built a committed customer following in the cycling community. The administration provides a crucial period of protection for WiggleCRC as we prepare to market the business for sale. The group has a quality stable of brands and a leading market position, so we expect there to be interest and encourage potential buyers to come forward.

“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. Customer service support is live and can be contacted with any queries through the respective websites.”

All orders placed online will be delivered as usual and customers can make online returns as normal and in line with terms and conditions.

The administration of WiggleCRC does not affect customer statutory rights.

The appointment of administrators follows news that Wiggle and Chain Reaction faced insolvency and were seeking self-administration.

Private equity firm Bridgepoint paid £180 million for Wiggle in 2011 and the company merged with Chain Reaction Cycles in 2016.

Numbers employed grew to 750 following the takeover. At its peak the Bilston warehouse – which was empty for seven years until Wiggle moved in ­– was handling 15 million items a year.

Potential buyers for WiggleCRC are thought to include Frasers Group which owns Evans Cycles and earlier this year bought another online cycle retailer ProBikeKit.