Sigh ...twice in a year

[slparry]

So my new employer, completely motorbikes went pop..... No warning to staff.


Managed to get re employment at Bill Smiths in Chester

[raesewell]

I'm sure you will forgive me Steve if I don't ask you to pick my lottery numbers.

[chriscanning]

Had heard they’d gone pop but in fairness the bike trade is in a right state at the mo,you have Pidcock’s also gone pop,and in the comic that comes through the letterbox every Wednesday was an ad from G.J.Wisdom about a liquidation sale of John W Groombrige motorcycles.

See the NEC bike show has brought back Trade Day,so it’ll be interesting to catch up on the gos when we go in 2 weeks time monday.

[Phmode]

Boy Steve, you must really have pissed off your lucky horseshoe/shamrock/whatever, but at least your guardian angel is looking after you.

And of course there was no warning to staff, they wanted you to keep on working till they owed you a lot of money and they also wanted to get first dibs on any jobs in the area.

Good luck at Bill Smiths, at least they have been around in one form or another since 1963, originally as Stanway Motors...

And now with only one BMW in the whole of Wales (Mid Wales Motorrad) it isn't quite what it used to be.

[Phmode]

According to Google...

Notice
Jonathan Mark Amor and Matthew Richards of Azets Holdings Limited together with Alessandro Sidoli of Xeinadin Corporate Recovery Limited were appointed Joint Administrators of Completely Motoring Limited, Thunder Road Motorcycles LTD and John Wilkins (Motor Engineers) Limited (together ‘the Companies’) on 10 October 2024.

Please note that the Joint Administrators act as agents of the Companies and without personal liability.

If you have any queries, please contact the Joint Administrators in writing at:

Azets Holdings Limited
5th Floor, Ship Canal House
98 King Street
Manchester
M2 4WU

As a Mancunian born within smelling distance of the Manchester Ship Canal, you just gotta love an address that includes Ship Canal House 

[Belco100]

We've just lost Colchester Kawasaki in Essex as well. Was the home of MSS Racing and Danny Buchan at one time 

Looks like the bike market has gone a bit flat this year, KTM struggling, Energecia gone bust etc

[black-k1]

Sorry to hear your news Steve though I hope the new position works out well.

Given the age of most bikers, I think there may be worse to come. Go to any bike meet and it can be hard to spot people under the age of about 60. That means that large numbers of bikers are getting to the age where they are hanging up their leathers and thus not buying new (or new to them) bikes. The customer base is shrinking and shrinking fast.

[Philip]

Very pleased that you have found new employment at a local shop Steve.

John Wilkins (Motor Engineers) is my local bike MOT workshop, just one mile away, on the outskirts of Crewe.
I'm quite shocked he was involved in this much larger business that has gone bust.

He was a family run motor engineers, him, his son & about 6 mechanics.
Been there since the year dot.
All he did was car & motorcycle MOT's & mechanical repairs, no retail at all.
A backstreet premises that must have had peanuts overheads.
Doesn't make sense as he always seemed busy.

[chriscanning]

Go to a bike meet of a Wednesday at of all things a garden centre out the back of Coleshill here in the West Mids,on a bad day bet there’s a couple of hundred bikes turn up, during the summer months can be double that,having the money to buy isn’t the problem but trying to sell the latest wiz bang most certainly is when the kit they are turning up on will nudge 160/70 plus on a good day.

[Matt]

Shoot. I'm trying to understand what went wrong by having a quick look at their accounts. The first sad line is quite early:

This is the first full year or results post acquisition of the subsidiaries...

 - Their turnover increased from 50 million to 78 million between 22 and 23. And operating profit went from 4.6 million to 7.7 million. So pretty decent. BUT...

 - They say they had a decline in sales during the summer months, leading to cash flow issues. Even though they sold 2,469 used bikes and 5,866 used bikes. Up on 731 and 4,275 respectively (plus they mention Ukraine...). Which brings us to...

 - Total liabilities: £26 million. And much of it was charges secured against their property. And Santander had them over a barrel for all their assets.

According to my sources (whiskey) a blaggable debt ratio for dealerships is 50-70%. Theirs was 93%. They leveraged to buggery in order to expand.

I suppose it's a lesson to us all (and any governments listening). Don't over-leverage. The cost to service their debts meant cashflow was constrained enough to kill em. And being a traditional business, they had limited levers.

Acquisition history:
09/19: Skellerns of Worcester
06/21:  Woods Motorcycles of Abergele, north Wales
03/22: Thunder Road Motorcycles, including sites in Bridgend, Cwmbran, and Gloucester
2023: a new 12,000 sq. ft. distribution and retail centre in Quorn, Leicestershire
09/23: a new purpose-built Triumph showroom in Chester

[Phmode]

Which whiskey was that?

[Matt]

Penderyn. Known for improving data processing capacity.

[slparry]

Now despite being Welsh, and liking Penderyn, I'm more of an Islay .. or Jura fan

[Phmode]

I have a 15 year old Laphroaig which somehow has meandered to the back of the pack. I need to have a reorg...

[slparry]

I visited Islay a few years ago and Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg are all on the same coastal road a mile apart from one another, with the hotel at the start near Laphroaig  ... has all the makings of an excellent whisky crawl visiting the distillery tours