Evans Cycles

Last updated

Evans Cycles Limited
Company type Private
Industry Cycling
Founded1921;103 years ago (1921) in London
Headquarters
Shirebrook
,
UK
Key people
Mike Tomkins (Chairman)
Number of employees
580
Parent Frasers Group
Website evanscycles.com

Evans Cycles Limited [1] is a British cycle retailer. It was opened in central London by a London cyclist, Frederick Evans, who won an award from Britain's largest cycling club for the best cycling invention of 1925. He left his shop to be run by his manager and joined the Royal Air Force when war broke out in 1939. He died in a road accident in 1944 and the shop and the national business that developed from it has had several owners.

Contents

Evans' own brands include the Pinnacle range of bikes, [2] and the FWE brand of basic accessories. The firm was acquired by equity companies in 2008, entered administration in 2018, and was then purchased by Sports Direct (current Frasers Group).

History

First years and development

100 years of Evans Cycles - a timeline Evans Cycles Centenary.jpg
100 years of Evans Cycles - a timeline

The business was created by a London cyclist, Frederick W. Evans. He created what The Bicycle UK magazine described as a quick-release and reversible rear wheel device, an ingenious feat for which he was awarded the Cyclists' Touring Club's first silver plaque as the inventor or producer of the greatest improvement in cycle design, construction or equipment during the year 1925. [3]

Evans Cycles store in Wandsworth High Street, London, 2016 Evans Cycles, Wandsworth High Street.jpg
Evans Cycles store in Wandsworth High Street, London, 2016

Evans edited the Cyclists' Touring Club's Cycling magazine before opening a bike shop in Westminster Bridge Road known as F.W. Evans Cycles in 1922. [4] He is credited with inventing frames with a double fixed hub and rear-dropout screw adjusters that became almost standard on quality frames. He specialised in building touring bikes and in the 1930s offered French-designed Cyclo derailleurs allowing up to 12 gears at a time when most UK bikes were fitted with 2 or 3-speed hub gears. He also offered touring refinements such as braze-ons for racks, and hub brakes. [4]

With the outbreak of war in 1939 he joined the Royal Air Force and left the business in the charge of his manager. The shop traded from this site for 30 years. Evans died in a road accident in 1944, having never again run his shop. He was by then in the educational engineering branch of the RAF. [3]

When Evans died during the war (knocked down by a milk float) his wife took over the business for several years, before selling it to Joe Smith in the 1950s. At the time the shop built frames and sold cycles and toys and later moved to Kennington Road. [4] In the 1970s Smith handed the business to his son, Gary, who expanded the business dramatically. [4] After more than 50 years at Kennington Road, the site came up for development. The shop moved to Waterloo, at 77-79 The Cut (which closed mid-2019). [5]

During the 1990s the stores were mostly franchised but in the 2000s, Gary worked with Mike Rice, the Croydon store franchise owner, to buy back the franchised stores to become part of F.W. Evans Cycles (UK) and by 2013 there were 47 stores. [4] During this time the Evans Cycles mail order catalogue was launched, requiring a central distribution centre, later established in Leatherhead, Surrey. This coincided with the Evans Cycles website being established. The business outgrew its distribution centre in Leatherhead. In 2001 the head office and distribution centre moved to Gatwick, Sussex, which has now moved to Shirebrook. [6]

Acquisitions

The company was acquired by the firm Active Private Equity in 2008 [7] for £30 million. [8] British private equity firm ECI Partners then acquired a majority stake in the company in May 2015 [9] for £75 million. [10]

On 30 October 2018, Evans Cycles entered administration, and was purchased by Sports Direct (now, Frasers Group) in a pre-pack administration for £8 million. [11] At the time of its insolvency in 2018 the company had 60 stores UK-wide. [12]

In 2019, despite many store closures following the insolvency, the company opened its 4th Glasgow store and an additional branch in Shirebrook, both within flagship TRI UK stores. [13]

After the takeover by Sports Direct there were complaints about poor customer service, which formerly had been very good, according to those customers. [14]

Sponsorship

For many years Evans Cycles has been involved in many different rider sponsoring activities, including various racing teams in a range of cycling areas.

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References

  1. ↑ "Evans Cycles Limited overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House . 19 September 2018. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  2. ↑ , Cycling Weekly
  3. 1 2 The Bicycle, UK, 13 December 1944, p25
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "London Classics: Evans Cycles". London cycling campaign.
  5. ↑ Hatts, James (13 August 2019). "Evans Cycles shuts The Cut shop, ending 98 years of local history". London SE1. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  6. ↑ "Evans above!". Bikebiz.
  7. ↑ "ECI pedals off with Evans Cycles". The Independent. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  8. ↑ Editorial, Reuters. "ECI Partners to buy 90-year-old UK bike shop Evans Cycles". U.K. Retrieved 3 November 2018.{{cite web}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
  9. ↑ "Evans – ECI Partners - UK middle market private equity (PE) firm". 1 April 2018. Archived from the original on 1 April 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  10. ↑ "What is Mike Ashley's plan for the High Street?". BBC News. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  11. ↑ "Evans Cycles sold to Mike Ashley's Sports Direct as part of pre-pack administration". The Independent. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  12. ↑ "Evans Cycles sold to Mike Ashley's Sports Direct as part of pre-pack administration". The Independent.
  13. ↑ "Evans Cycles to open new Glasgow store after completing round of closures". Insider.co.uk.
  14. ↑ Miles Brignall (20 July 2020). "I feel like I've been taken for a ride by Evans Cycles". The Guardian.
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