Sports Division

Last updated

Sports Division
TypePublic company
Industry Retail
Founded1984
Defunct1998
Successor JJB Sports
Products Clothing, sportswear, sports equipment

Sports Division was one of the biggest sports retailers in the United Kingdom during the 1990s. [1]

The company was set up by Sir Tom Hunter in 1984 to sell trainers, initially from the back of a van. Hunter subsequently borrowed £5,000 from his father and a further £5,000 from RBS to set up Sports Division.

In November 1995, Hunter, along with business partner Philip Green, purchased larger rival Olympus Sports from Sears, and integrated them into the Sports Division brand. [2]

In 1998, following a dramatic reduction in sales, Sports Division postponed coming to the market as planned. In July of that year, the business was sold to its main competitor, JJB Sports, for approximately £295 million. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avalon Hill</span> Board game company

Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company's "Hasbro Gaming" division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wigan Athletic F.C.</span> Association football club in Greater Manchester, England

Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney Parks, Experiences and Products</span> Theme park and travel division of The Walt Disney Company

Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., formerly Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and informally known as Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Company's five major business segments and a subsidiary. It was founded on April 1, 1971, exactly six months before the opening of Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, just outside of Orlando.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Mair</span> Scottish broadcaster

Eddie Mair is a Scottish broadcaster who was a presenter on BBC radio and television. He presented his show on LBC between 4pm and 6pm every weekday until his last one, on 18 August 2022, after which he retired from broadcasting. He also hosted BBC Radio 4's daily news magazine PM, the Radio 4 Saturday iPM, and NewsPod. He occasionally presented Newsnight and Any Questions. Mair became a stand-in presenter for The Andrew Marr Show following Marr's stroke. Mair left the BBC in August 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DW Stadium</span> Stadium in Greater Manchester, England

The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owned by Wigan local authority. It is used by Wigan Athletic football club and Wigan Warriors rugby league club, the rugby league club having a 50 years lease on tenancy to play games at the stadium. Built and opened in 1999, it is named after its main sponsor, DW Sports Fitness. In UEFA matches, it is called Wigan Athletic Stadium due to UEFA regulations on sponsorship.

Sir Thomas Blane Hunter is a Scottish businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Whelan</span> English businessman

David Whelan is an English businessman and former footballer. During his football career, he played for Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra. Whelan is the former owner of club Wigan Athletic, having also been the chairman of the club for twenty years, before passing the position over to his grandson, David Sharpe, who eventually passed the ownership over to International Entertainment Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JJB Sports</span> British sports retailer company

JJB Sports plc was a British sports retailer. On 24 September 2012, shares in JJB Sports were suspended, and the firm called in administrators. On 1 October 2012, it was announced that Sports Direct had purchased part of the business, including 20 stores, the brand, and its website for £28.3 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred McAlpine</span> British construction company

Alfred McAlpine plc was a British construction firm headquartered in Hooton, Cheshire. It was a major road builder, and constructed over 10% of Britain's motorways, including the M6 Toll. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Carillion in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Peston</span> British journalist

Robert James Kenneth Peston is an English journalist, presenter, and author. He is the political editor of ITV News and host of the weekly political discussion show Peston. From 2006 until 2014, he was the business editor of BBC News and its economics editor from 2014 to 2015. He became known to the wider public with his reporting on the late 2000s financial crisis, especially with his exclusive information on the Northern Rock crisis. He is the founder of the education charity Speakers for Schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frasers Group</span> British sports-goods retailer

Frasers Group plc is a British retail, sport and intellectual property group, named after its ownership of the department store chain House of Fraser. The company is best known for trading predominantly under the Sports Direct brand which operates both physical outlets and online. Other retailers owned by the company include Jack Wills, GAME, Flannels, USC, Lillywhites and Evans Cycles. The company owns numerous intellectual property, including the brands Everlast, Lonsdale, Slazenger and No Fear. The group also expanded into operating fitness clubs, launching the Everlast Fitness Club chain in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Wigan Warriors</span>

The History of the Wigan Warriors stretches back to the club's foundation in 1872. It was one of the founding members of the Northern Rugby Football Union after the schism from the one code of rugby football in 1895. At the elite competition level, Wigan is the most successful club in the history of British Rugby League, measured by total of trophies won. The club has won 22 Rugby Football League Championships, 20 Challenge Cups and 4 World Club Challenge trophies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allegra Stratton</span> British journalist (born 1980)

Allegra Elizabeth Jane Stratton is a British former political aide, journalist, and writer who served as Downing Street Press Secretary under Boris Johnson from November 2020 to April 2021.

Wigan Athletic's season in the 2008–09 Premier League was their fourth season in the Premier League, and Steve Bruce’s first full season as the manager of the club. The off-season saw the club sign a number of players, including Middlesbrough's highly rated young midfielder Lee Cattermole, Birmingham City pair Daniël de Ridder and Olivier Kapo, both of whom played under Bruce at Birmingham, and little known Egyptian striker Amr Zaki, ranked as the world's best striker in FIFA rankings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hindpool Retail Parks</span>

The Hindpool Retail Parks are a set of four conjoined retail parks in the Hindpool area of Barrow-in-Furness, England, United Kingdom. Some thirty stores and leisure facilities contain a total of 43,000 m2 (460,000 sq ft) of retail space. The four retail parks are Cornerhouse Retail Park, Cornmill Crossing, Hindpool Retail Park and Hollywood Park. The largest and only other retail park in Barrow is Walney Road Retail Park - Pound Stretcher, Argos Extra, Asda, Home Bargains, Matalan and Stollers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poole's Pies</span>

Pooles of Wigan Ltd was a manufacturer of pies and puddings based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. Distributed in Northwest England, its 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2) plant that could make up to 100,000 pies and pastries an hour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DW Sports Fitness</span>

DW Sports Fitness was a British retailing and fitness business, founded as a result of Dave Whelan's purchase of 50 JJB Sports fitness clubs with attached retail stores for £83.4 million in March 2009. The business would later encompass more than 140 sites, which included expansion to stand-alone retail stores and stand-alone fitness clubs. In 2011, the business joined buying group Intersport, and began using its name within its facades, and in 2016 it joint-purchased the Fitness First UK business alongside The Gym Group and Greenwich Leisure Limited.

Anushka Asthana is a British Indian journalist and television presenter, who is currently deputy political editor of ITV News.

The British Labour Party's Economic Advisory Committee was in 2015-16 a group of economists, described as experts on globalisation, inequality and innovation, convened by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and reporting to Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn, announced on 27 September 2015 at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton, and intended to meet on a quarterly basis to discuss and develop ideas around the official economic strategy to be advocated by the Labour Party, but not to set policy. It has been described as a way to give the Shadow Chancellor defensive cover.

References

  1. "JJB kicks off £290m sports deal". BBC News. 23 July 1998. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  2. Peston, Robert (30 October 2008). Who Runs Britain?: ...and who's to blame for the economic mess we're in By Robert Peston. ISBN   9781848940161 . Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  3. "JJB leaps on takeover approach". www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk. 2 October 2004. Retrieved 20 January 2023.