Rapha has announced a wave of job cuts. The firm itself says 15 people are being made redundant, although The Telegraph quotes a former employee who said the number was between 60 and 70. Another insider said the figure was nearer 80.
A Rapha spokesman said: “As we entered 2018, we adjusted our trading strategy, prioritising long-term profitable growth above short-term sales. As part of this, we are simplifying certain areas of the business, in order to reduce costs, and consolidate and strengthen our position. These actions will result in the reduction of a limited number of positions in our London headquarters.”
BikeBiz reports that one of those to have left the company is head of R&D, Simon Huntsman.
The news comes after a series of uncharacteristically protracted sales over the summer. Many items have also been listed on the discount clothing website Sportpursuit.
Just over a year ago, RZC Investments, which is owned by two heirs to the Walmart fortune, bought a majority stake in the upmarket cycle clothing firm.
Speaking at the time, Rapha founder and chief executive Simon Mottram said the acquisition heralded, “the start of the next stage of our journey and is testament to the growth and potential that people see in Rapha and in cycling.
“Support from RZC Investments will allow us to further expand our active global community of cyclists, develop even better and more innovative products and services to enhance cyclists’ lives and inspire many more people to take up the World’s greatest sport.”
The deal reportedly valued Rapha at £200m. At the time of the purchase, the firm’s profit sat at around £1.4m.
37 thoughts on “Rapha announces redundancies in bid to cut costs”
I guess this is one of the
I guess this is one of the reasons why they allowed evanscycles to be sold off.
With the current political climate with the government and local councils constantly banging the drum about how they are doing all ‘this and that’ to promote cycling, safer cycling and cycling as a viable means of transport but actually doing very little to nothing at all if not interfering with plans that will do what they said they would do then it does not surprise me how bike retailers are heading into financial difficulties.
There’s only so many times one person can purchase bicycle lights, apparel, helmets and all the other gubbins associated with the purchase of a bike or bicycle commuting.
Not to forget about how the police are failing to protect vulnerable road users (like cyclists for instance, perfect example! :P) How many times have we seen videos of close passes that left us slightly shaken inside but the police’s response is ‘no action takendue to lack of evidence’ ??
Im sure there werelots of people who did pick up cycling to work because of the goverment promotions but then stopped and left their bikes collecting cobwebs in the shed because they no longer felt safe on the roads after one too many closses passes and confrontations with abusive drivers who think its their God given right to be on the road.
Something needs to be done but nobody seems to be in a hurry to do anything or they lack the resources to do anything at all.
/Rant
I couldn’t realy care less
I couldn’t realy care less about rapha and their num bumbling owners. Just overpriced, elitist pap as far as I’m concerned.
Tim K wrote:
Yet, cared enough to read the article and post a comment?
NorthEastJimmy wrote:
Not exactly “cared”, but yes I did happen to read it and comment as is obvious? Your point is?
Tim K wrote:
I thought my implied comment was obvious but never mind.
Surely if you couldn’t care less about something then you wouldn’t take the time to read into it and then take the time to comment? It would be the equivalent of me taking the time to read something about golf and then going on some forum and telling people how I “couldn’t care less”. The act of me doing that would be pointless, needlessly rubbing people up the wrong way and filling up a comments section for people who do care. There are plenty of examples of people like you who jump straight into media articles;
Formula one = not a sport, I don’t care about Hamilton winning yet another race…he’s not British
Athletics = who cares about people running around a track? Mo Farah…he’s not British
Cycling = not a sport, people don’t care about this, surely?
It’s tedious, predicable and it grinds my gears.
I’m done here, even if you’re not.
Tim K wrote:
In English next time please Tim.
The range has grown too big and the quality varies too much across it. Core shorts are great, but the Core jerseys are awful. The Pro Team lightweight jerseys are great, but the Pro Team lightweight shorts are awful, to name some examples.
There’s a never-ending sale in order to shift it all and now nobody will buy any of their gear at full price.
Classic case of a company losing focus as it expands.
Tim K wrote:
Good for you. Sleep well tonight.
Tim K wrote:
I don’t really care too about Rapha and their 3-digit priced plastic jerseys. But when a man returns a Friday afternoon and has to tell his wife that he just got fired is a really tragic moment, so this article is worth reading.
cyclisto wrote:
I couldn’t realy care less about rapha and their num bumbling owners. Just overpriced, elitist pap as far as I’m concerned.
— cyclisto I don’t really care too about Rapha and their 3-digit priced plastic jerseys. But when a man returns a Friday afternoon and has to tell his wife that he just got fired is a really tragic moment, so this article is worth reading.— Tim K
Thats a very fair comment. I think you should maybe talk to the original owners about who they sold the company to and the great staff welfare they are renowned for before trying to put anything on me.
IF they are aiming at the
IF they are aiming at the large disposable income bloke, whats with the sale…? Always the sale .
Burberry burns its left over tat
Rapha sells it off at 60% off creating an ACTUAL market price of 60% off retail.
…and the stuff HAS to be top line quality. Too often I have open the tissue paper and been delighted only to ride it and been underwhelmed. The rubbish Shadow skinsuit was the last straw and I went back to Assos.
Freddy56 wrote:
60% off RRP, ie 40% of RRP, is still 10% above wholesale/production cost in luxury. It’s what everybody in the schmutter trade does to kill inventory that costs you every day you have to pay to keep it in the warehouse. And -60% is usuall for the hard to shift items – the most popular ones can usually be shifted at -25%, which is still profitable if wholesale+overheads = 60% RRP.
I know it’s been a bone of
I know it’s been a bone of contention in these parts in the past, but it’s fair to say that there are considerably cheaper merino blend jerseys available *cough* Torm *cough* Maybe there’s only so long you can charge three times the price before you run out of customers.
Torm’s jerseys aren’t as good
Torm’s jerseys aren’t as good as Rapha’s though. Coming from someone who owns both. Want cheap merino gear? Head over to Planet X. Torm is for fat MAMILs with more money than speed etc etc etc
srchar wrote:
Steady on… I may be slow but I’m not fat.
But no, for a third of the price they aren’t as good… but are they only a third as good? Hmmmm.
I’m also not sure what wealth of merino gear you think Planet X are selling. I see one solitary merino blend jersey on their website. Hardly a comparable range.
vonhelmet wrote:
It was a joke mate. I haven’t visited Planet X’s website since I became successful enough to afford Torm, and I haven’t bought a Torm jersey since I became successful enough to afford Rapha*
* – also a joke
srchar wrote:
if you carry on being so successful you can start wearing stuff from Planet-X again, only this time ironically.
ConcordeCX wrote:
Well I wear jerseys from Aliexpress unironically. What do you think of that eh?
Yorkshire wallet wrote:
I think it’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
ConcordeCX wrote:
I can’t see that happening any time soon, and anyway, I only very recently offloaded it all to a bearded mug with his hair tied up, in a cafe that only serves 1990s breakfast cereals. Tried to sell him some brakes for his Pompino too, but he wasn’t having any of it.
TBF Rapha isn’t really the
TBF Rapha isn’t really the ‘Merino Jersey guys’ they once were, most of their stuff is just standard plastic things, albeit at silly money. Have a feeling they may drop their city line though, that stuff is almost constantly on sale.
If ever there was a brand to
If ever there was a brand to polarize people…
Rapha is not ‘overpriced pap’. Their products sit in a tier, along with several other high-end cycling apparel companies. This is no different from any other product you can buy. Do you need a new car? Are BMW/Audi/Mercedes ‘overpriced pap’? why spend 40k when you can get a Hyundai for under 10?
They invest more in R&D than the cheaper brands, and their customer service is second to none. Personally, that’s why I use them. Risk-free internet shopping, and well designed products.
I wear a mixture of different brands. I personally think Assos bibs and tights are better; so I’m no ‘Rapha Wh0re’. I’ve also tried the Torm Merino jersey; the fabric was OK but the cut was poor, so I went back to Rapha.
It just gets very tedious, hearing people knock a company with good intentions: to promote cycling as a sport and lifestyle, and make really nice, stylish apparel.
Laying people off, is a tragic, yet often essential part of business. A 1.5million profit before the RZC aquisition, shows that they are not ripping people off, it shows that their overheads are huge,
Their prices take the piss
Their prices take the piss IMO
Jeez, I’ve only looked at 2
Jeez, I’ve only looked at 2 articles on Road.cc this morning; one on carbon frames that will take mudguards and this one on Rapha. All sorts of ‘venom’ written because something doesn’t look right or has the wrong image. It’s just kit; I stuff mudguards on because Brit weather is so unpredictable and happen to have some Rapha kit which is really good.
As others have said, I think
As others have said, I think in order to sustain the growth that’s needed to make the company value worthwhile then the focus is being lost. They almost need to double down on the high end items (assuming they still have a customer base for it) if they keep diluting the brand those with the money to spend on the top price items will go elsewhere and those who would consider the more affordable options will be put off by the ‘rapha factor’.
I do wonder how much not sponsoring a world tour level team is costing them, I know they claimed it wasn’t making them money but if they’re serious about the racing potential then they need to be seen being raced (I know they sponsor other teams and events but the difference in coverage from WT to everything else is pretty huge) I actually think they’d do well if they sponsored a women’s team as a headline sponsor.
RobD wrote:
You mean like Canyon-SRAM…
Awavey wrote:
I actually think they’d do well if they sponsored a women’s team as a headline sponsor.
— Awavey You mean like Canyon-SRAM…— RobD
Well no, because if Rapha was a headline sponsor their name would be mentioned in the name ‘Canyon-SRAM’ …
These lay-off were announced
These lay-off were announced on Tuesday. Is rehashing a Telegraph story the best you can do in four days?
Rapha have a bit of a problem
Rapha have a bit of a problem… they built themselves up brilliantly, utterly brilliantly, Mottram played a blinder.
However, the brand value was based around niche, quality, exclusivity… the massive positive of this is margin, the negative of this is the natural market ceiling – only so many people will pay top dollar for something that can be aquired for a fraction of the price.
By trying to push through that ceiling, to diversify, they are diluting the brand value. The whole sale business is a monumental mistake IMO, but I am sure they know better than me.
Jimmy Ray Will wrote:
I’m not sure they do, to be honest. I agree 100% with what you have said here (as someone who has never bought, and could not afford to buy) their gear. The positives of being an exclusive, niche business are enormous, but you have to be able to maintain it, and be comfortable with the idea of reaching that natural ceiling.
Apple were once considered the same, but they have been able to break the mould because their major products (smartphones) are things that everyone wants all of the time, and they can maintain margins because they have managed to not dilute the brand but yet attain more than a niche audience prepared to pay top dollar for the same product they can get much cheaper elsewhere.
A cycle clothing manufacturer is never going to do that.
If they want to grow, Rapha have to either grow their exclusive base, and encourage more people to pay top dollar, or diversify into other parts of the market where the margins are smaller but the volume is greater. But that could then affect the perception and value of the brand itself (as you point out).
Jetmans Dad wrote:
Growth… in this instance this means “make increased returns for their shareholders”. They could have sat quite happily for many many years in the exclusive niche they occupied so well but greed nearly always wins.
Jimmy Ray Will wrote:
This ^, in a nutshell. They broadened their range to broaden their appeal, the quality has varied, the value of the brand has been diluted and the new punters aren’t prepared to pay RRP. There was a time when Rapha stuff was a significantly better quality than competitor mass-market equivalents, now not all of it is. Mistake.
Rapha make some nice kit, but
Rapha make some nice kit, but their content driven clothing idea isn’t unique anymore.
My issue is with their ‘new fit’ stuff, the arms are sooo long on a lot of the kit and the fit is for only the very skinniest people alive.
So where a few years ago I was once target market for them, no matter how much they make nice stuff, I’m now simply sized out of the equation, unless I want tops with really long arms and torsos.
I ride a Planet X bike
I ride a Planet X bike unironically. It’s aluminium and everything. Tragic.
vonhelmet wrote:
When I lost my job, my girlfriend left me, I had a bout of necrotizing fasciitis and my house burned down the day after the insurance expired, the only thing that consoled me was the thought that there must be somebody worse off. I didn’t really think it was true – until now.
Yet they still have plenty of
Yet they still have plenty of money to endlessly repeat an achingly-expensive ‘lifestyle’ advert that doesn’t even show the product.
Rapha: Is there any way we can emphasize our company as vendors of overpriced tat for wankers?
LA-based advertising agency: Let us handle that…
They should have moved into
They should have moved into normal clothing if they wanted that expensive but greater reach thing. Lots of idiots would still pay stupid prices for a pair of jeans or a polo shirt. Easier to sell stuff riding waves of fashion as well. Only so much gear you can sell a cyclist but this years fashion is another thing.
They should make handbags! That’s where the real money is!
Yorkshire wallet wrote:
They did. Rapha jeans and t-shirts are always, always in the sale, in a range of sizes.
Not many did, given the above.