Mango Bikes promises to honour "all orders, refunds and exchanges" after buying Vulpine

Mango Bikes says it will honour all orders placed with Vulpine, which it rescued from administration last week.

The Cirencester-based bicycle brand exchanged contracts to buy Vulpine from administrators on Friday evening.

> Vulpine rescued from administration by Mango Bikes

In a press release formally confirming the deal, it said that "Administrators RSM chose Mango Bikes as the winning bid, as they offered the best return for stakeholders, and are clearly excited about taking the business forwards as a whole."

The company also confirmed that "Key members of Vulpine’s design team will continue working with Mango Bikes, advising on garment development and brand identity."

Barry Dunn, CEO of Mango Bikes, will take on the same role at Vulpine.

He said: "We were gutted to hear that Vulpine were having problems.

"We knew that it would be such a terrible waste to the British cycling industry if they disappeared.

"We are all admirers of what they have created and their ethos as it chimed so closely to what we do.

"Then we started thinking, what if we stepped in and saved them? It made perfect sense to go for it!

"I am proud to say that it’s a great feeling being able to help and to become part of the story of such a brilliant company," he continued.

"We want Vulpine to continue doing what it does so well."

Vulpine's future had been uncertain since founder Nick Hussey said on Friday 5 May it was insolvent and that he had been forced to call in the administrators.

They were formally appointed on Tuesday 16 May, with a deadline for offers set of Thursday 18 May.

The lack of news over the following week, however, meant that some people who had place orders with the business remained anxious about whether they would ever see them.

Vulpine's new CEO moved to allay any fears among existing customers. He said: "It goes without saying we will honour all orders, refunds and exchanges.

"We believe in long term trust in customer service, and we want to start as we mean to carry on.

"We will clear the three week backlog as soon as possible, and have brought in extra staff to do this.”

Ben Harrison co-founder of Mango bikes, said: “Vulpine and Mango will help and support each other.

"I look forward to us growing together as the urban cycling market matures." 

He added: "It’s not only fun, it also makes business sense. We can’t wait to get started.”

Harrison co-founded Mango Bikes with his friend Jezz Skelton in 2012 while the pair were still at university.

Their concept of a fashionable but inexpensive, fully customisable fixed gear bike that could be ordered online was featured on BBC3 programme Be Your Own Boss.