- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
news
Vulpine cap logos.JPGCycle clothing brand Vulpine is "insolvent" and enters administration
London-based cycle clothing brand Vulpine has entered administration. The news was confirmed in an email send this afternoon by its founder, Nick Hussey, to investors in the business.
He wrote:
It is with intense sadness that I have to inform you that Vulpine is insolvent, and I have had to take the extremely difficult but essential decision to place the company I founded into administration, under UK law, hence my unusual formality.
Two Partners from RSM Restructuring Advisory LLP will be appointed administrators next week, after a special resolution was passed yesterday by ‘A Shareholders’, who are able to vote. Once appointed the Administrators will have full control of the company and I will no longer be able to make any decisions.
We have done all we can to finance the company. The late arrival of the majority of our Spring Summer 2017 stock put us in a more difficult cash position. Thus we sought to raise investment again through crowdfunding. But this did not gain the necessary momentum to complete, likely due to the very poor trading figures of the last financial year.
Thus we pulled out of the Crowdcube attempted raise and began contacting previously interested investors and potential buyers of Vulpine, plus a raft of new contacts.
Whilst there was strong recognition of the brand, and initial verbal interest, none have produced offers or ongoing due diligence, and communication has stopped. It is highly possible that, having seen our precarious financial position and the complications of doing a fast enough deal, they are waiting to pick the business up in administration instead, if any deal is to be done.
Vulpine’s brand and business structure remains relatively undamaged at this point, and any acquisition via administration would see the highest potential value to all stakeholders if conducted as quickly as possible.
The proposed Administrators plan is to try to sell the company’s assets, such as brand, goodwill, database & website to maximize realisations for the benefit of creditors and potentially shareholders.
You can contact Robert Young at RSM for advice on this process, or if you believe there may be an interested buyer: robert.young [at] rsmuk.comI cannot offer financial advice, and I encourage you to seek your own, but if you qualify for EIS status, you should be able to claim significant Loss Relief on top of your Tax Relief.I wish you all the very best.
Ride well.
More to follow.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- anagallis_arvensis 5 min 21 sec ago
It didn't need to be dangerous to the cyclist as the two previous cars proved when they over took....
- Geordiepeddeler 5 hours 43 min ago
Cycling infrastructure does not force drivers to break the law, drivers are the reason they break the law, no one else.
- chrisonabike 5 hours 55 min ago
Ah but taking pictures of things to defy the man (avoid a fine) is righteous. Taking pictures of people to grass on them to the cops (perhaps...
- ktache 7 hours 54 min ago
Never had a Shimano QR fail on me. They just work. And the top end ones look good too....
- Backladder 8 hours 40 min ago
If you're only looking at the guy in front of you then you're going to crash whatever brakes you have, you need to look beyond them to anticipate...
- jaysa 9 hours 6 min ago
As a woman, this works great for me! My chain broke once, and a kind guy stopped with a chain breaker and sorted it all out for me. We stopped at a...
- andystow 9 hours 57 min ago
Same. I also have gone through a bunch of their tyres, and only the extralight disappointed (torn sidewall) but the standards are fantastic....
- chrisonabike 11 hours 55 min ago
Indeed - but it's no more inconsistent than our current road design - very often UK high streets are "for shopping" and also a busy through route....
- mike the bike 13 hours 25 min ago
If you ask the world's leading economic commentators how many people have been rescued from abject poverty by capitalism the average answer would...
Add new comment
253 comments
So you invested over £10,000 in this business, and having read about how badly the finances were and how poorly it was managed, you've still got nothing for love?
I hope for your sake you make some better investment decisions in future
@Fixie Girl
While Nick's movements and motives are being analysed by you in fine detail, it's perhaps fair to enquire of you - why the extreme interest? You even appear to have set up a Twitter account @fixie_girl with the express purpose of dishing the dirt on Vulpine. Who are you, and why the fixation?
Turns out that people running businesses are after your money and don’t always tell the truth. Who knew?
Some of my favourite quotes from this thread:
“I had issues with a Hoy Fortress Jersey pockets. The bartack stitching was becoming loose”
“If they had sorted out the boob issue years ago, perhaps it would have made a difference?”
“The last business moves seem shady and lacking in morals.”
“I feel a bit mis led if im honest as not at any given time were there any warnings of this”
“Sadly someone beat me to my reveal on Monday.”
“Wow, taking over £9k per month in the last 4 months?”
“His many absurd mistakes include: 1) Telling investors everything was rosy when it wasn’t”
“The previous pitch in 2015 1) No mention of the Hoy brand being finite”
“I notice that the pop up adverts on this page are now for insolvency practitioners - not your usual cycling bling!”
“If you look through the accounts and registered addresses and the sales history of Mr.Husseys house it would appear he has transferred/sold the house to his Mrs.”
Have you all got together for the special school’s outing?
Brilliant. I don't mean to sound glib, but honestly, reading that gives me the exact same slightly depressed feeling I get from reading Daily Mail comment threads.
I admit I've made some terrible investment decisions. I get overly emotional and get carried away with big ideas and concepts. But two things to note:
1) I genuinely only invest what I can afford to lose.
2) Some have paid off spectacularly (just to give context - 6 fig invested in Facebook over the months it was trading sub $20 - now worth 7 fig). I sound like a dick saying that but I'm not sure how else to give context.
I can honestly and truly say i don't give a shit about $13k invested in Vulpine - I took a punt on Nick and it failed. I've moved on. So should you weirdos.
Well let's put it this way, it is a great pity that a company with some great products looks like it is about to go under and perhaps there are lessons in this to be learnt ?
There are also some points that are worth investingating so that mistakes are not repeated.
Sure, money was raised from investors and the projections (with the benefit of hindsight) look to be too optimistic. Perhaps some scrutiny of those projections is not unreasonable ?
What about disclosures of key facts in the run up to the fund raising ? What was disclosed about the longevity of the Hoy/Vulpine relationship ? The key routes to market (i.e. Evans cycles who appear to have closed the door) ? What about the board changes, was a complete change in board membership (other than the founder) disclosed ? What of the charges/loans and their disclosure?
The timing and sale of the founder's house might be worthy of further enquiry ?
Ultimately if you raise capital you are the custodian of it and duty bound to act in the best interest of your investors and backers and whilst it might be small beer to some, it doesn't mean difficult questions shouldn't be asked and most importantly, answered.
You're getting more than a bit odd now.
-
Also like how the photo on "her" twitter profile is a crop from a stock image... http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/happy-young-woman-holding-a-bl...
Well done on making money, each to their own but even Facebook can't do anything about your size...I'm sorry!
@gva - watch the personal abuse or we'll delete your account and you've only had it for six days.
If you look I have been active on road.cc for many years. I dont wish to use my personal account on Twitter to highlight the issues at Vulpine because I don't have to. Ditto the avatar.
Should I fear doxing now?
I had my earlier posts deleted by Tony where I thought explained why. I met Nick at the beginning and I disagreed with his motivation. I called him out on this and from memory we even had a few arguments on this forum too.
When I saw what happened 2 weeks back I had a bad feeling and I did some digging and what I found truly shocked me. It isnt just me who saw what was wrong at Vulpine, Bikebiz, The Times and others sites took a similar view and published their conclusions. Which are broadly the same as mine. I work in a broadly similar business so its relatively easy to find this info by the way.
I have nothing to gain from this either way. I liked a lot of what Vulpine did, hell I even bought some kit. My Harrington is one of the first and I do think far better than later iterations.
Bottom line, I am genuinely angry that someone has gone out of their way to be reckless with other people money to prove a point, the company under his leadership has lost over £2M of investors money, while enriching himself at their expense. At the same time his bad decisions will be felt in the cycle clothing market when 1000's of products hit the outlet shops hurting other brands unfairly, when others try to raise funds and so on.
Knowing Nick I am sure he will we surface soon and no doubt play the victim again. I guess you all know him on Twitter?
BTW I was being ironic about the house and his 'movements' which I should have been clearer.
Hope you like my real pic. Taken a few years ago now. If you notice I look like the stock pic which was in fact sent to me by a colleague who joked that I was moonlighting as a 'model'..
The bio is real and I have real friends following this and my public Twitter accts. Willing to put your true details online? I guess honesty isn't your real name but I could be wrong.
Very nice photo. Better than a dodgy crop of a stock image. I find things like that are usually red flags for fake accounts. I mean if you really don't want to have something there why not just leave it blank? Surely you can see how that may cause some people to question your motives?
Anyway as with things on the internet it's better to view everything with a level of healthy scepticism.
I'm puzzled why someone with no financial skin in this game would spend this much time and effort here, and then create a second Twitter account, just because they're 'angry'.
You haven't lost anything, a company has failed. It happens every day. The full story will no doubt come out in time.
But this is looking like a very personal vendetta.
1. How do you know I havent. Maybe I am a disgruntled ex-employee or spurned lover.. Or maybe its from a misguided sense of justice?
2. I just want to keep this separate from my work - are you 100% transparent on the internet Gweeds? What's your point, the bio and pic are 100% genuine
3. Without people contradicting the narrative that Nick was a poor victim of circumstances 99% of people here would be ignorant of the incompetence that led to hundreds of people losing over £2m.
4. I only posted facts on here after seeing posts about poor Nick and had to say something. If it was personal then Tony F would have soon quite rightly 'slapped me down'.
5. I have not disguised the fact that I have publically disagreed with Nick and his methods in the past on here, F2F and Twitter.
6. Are you suggesting that unless someone is intimately involved with something they cannot have an opinion? So much for free speech in the UK then
7. Yes I am angry, is that a crime? Lots of people have been screwed, a few of my friends among them. If Crowdcube had done their duedil, if the original investors had "allegedly" got their winding up order, if I had said something in Oct 15.
This whole clusterf**k was avoidable.
I am off to the gym and I will take my facts and opinions with me..
Jenny aka FG
So what if it is personal?
At least there's a counter-narrative to the anodyne first page of 'that's a shame: such a nice man/cool company/but my pocket fell off' waste of cyberspace.
Also, exactly how do you suppose the truth does come out in these stories? Do truth fairies eventually sit down with someone connected in a pub, or give the scoop to the FT? Or is it that enough people get angry about it to do some digging, and highlight other sources that took a similar line, and someone can be arsed banging the drum loud enough for it to break into the mainstream?
You might not be personally affected, or motivated to do anything: great. But the world would be a far, far shitter place if only people who'd been personally wronged got angry and motivated.
So, apart from feeling very naive as well as a little stupid, I hope someone can gve me a factual not opinion based answer. I sent back a pair of Vulpine jeans last week because they are too wide at the bottom, for my liking. Will I get a refund? If not, will they sed me the jeans back?
Worried of Worthing (closest place that begins with a W!)
Don't worry, flares will come back into fashion.
They never went out as far as I am concerned but thanks for your concern about my £85!
Whether you will get either the Jeans back or a refund is a good question.
I'm currently sitting on a Harrington Jacket that I don't require, as I bought two sizes. As the website still looks exactly the same as it did pre Administration, I sent them an email asking whether they were still honouring their returns policy. I still haven't had reply, over a week later, so I'm not holding my breath.
If they are still trading then surely they must still comply with the Sale of Goods Act and thus their returns policy.
I'm not an expert but I believe they are still trading while in administration; the administrators run the company while seeking a buyer or failing that, dispose of the assets in order to pay creditors. I'm a lowly 'shareholder' (or as I prefer to call it 'charitable giver') and will be lucky to get a penny in the pound on my 'investment.'
But if they are still trading whilst in Administration and there is no mention of this on the website, and you purchased and item from them today, unawhere of the insolvency, then wouldn't you presume that you were buying with the Sale of Goods Act and even the terms of their 'Free Returns' still applying.
Isn't this dishonest at best and illegal at worst.
I've just seen a tweet from 'Cyclelove' advising not to buy from the website as the notice about the being in Administration is easily missed.
Just checked the homepage myself and it is now showing that their in Administration. They're also advising against placing any new orders.
Really not sure when this changed, but if you don't go to their homepage first then you will still be non the wiser.
Yup that was me — as we had been promoting Vulpine via an affiliate deal I wanted to let people know what was happening, especially as they've been so quiet on social media. (Not sure I'm going to get the money I'm owed from this yet).
Dear road.cc writers: have there been enough (or, any) new developments on this story to warrant a new story? Rather than the comments being about a hundred times longer than the original article?
Agree. It's clearly something of interest to your readers, and of critical relevance to the cycling industry. I'm sure you'd get quotes from some parties involved.
I agree, where's the update?
This comment thread is vertically compliant and laterally stiff with all the latest tech, it's leading the disc brake charge with plus size tyres for your gravel riding, you think where does that road go and with its more upright sportive all day comfort geometry this thread says yes, go down the road you don't know. And also you'll no doubt have noticed it comes in this seasons must have gray text in a white background colour.
Its a £250 pair of shorts when you only ride one day a week, it's 15% better than the previous version but still more expensive and 10% worse than the competition. It's at a discount to Rrp but still at the same price as 40weeks of the year, it's race results when you are still coming home from work. It's time I pressed save without checking spelling and grammar!
Andy- what size/ colour are you trying to get rid of? I might be interested.
Pages