Clothing manufacturer Le Col has entered administration following months of financial uncertainty.
road.cc has seen emails sent to clients owed money by the business detailing the appointment of administrators last week. The administrators, from FRP Advisory Group, specialise in corporate restructuring, with one an expert in businesses in “distress.”
In February Le Col were sold to American sports equipment manufacturer Head, which specialises in racket and winter sports. At the time of the takeover, it was announced that the business would be run from Milan, rather than London where the business was based and where clothing was designed. Founder, former professional racer Yanto Barker, resigned as a company director in October last year.
Two days after the administrators were appointed, Le Col filed to change its name with Companies House, to Cadence (2026) Number 2 Ltd. Such name changes enable administrators to sell or re-use the original company name, and any potential trademarks owned.
It is unclear whether administration is the first step towards the company liquidating, or if the administration will enable Head to restructure the business without its debts. Days after taking over the business, a loan agreement was registered with Head as a parent company acting as a lender to Le Col.
The loan contained both fixed and floating charges covering “all the property and undertaking of the company.” Following the loan agreement, Stefano Pariani, an Italian business executive, was appointed to Le Col’s board of directors. Since 25th May he has been the only person on the company board.
Prior to being taken over, the brand was owned by private equity firm Puma Growth Partners. At the time of Le Col’s acquisition by Head, Puma Growth’s managing director was quoted as saying, “We are pleased to have exited Le Col to such a strong counterparty and believe HEAD will be a superb custodian of the Le Col brand going forward.”
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Le Col had recorded £12 million in losses over three years following the coronavirus pandemic. The company also became the title sponsor of a professional cycling team, Le Col-Wahoo, in 2022 – coinciding with the inaugural Tour de France Femmes. However, the brand withdrew their title sponsorship of the team at the end of the year.
The company had also attracted criticism after shareholders who took part in a crowdfunding initiative in 2017 were told without consultation that their shares were being sold for “nominal consideration.”
road.cc has contacted Head Group for comment.
22 thoughts on “Le Col enters administration months after takeover by tennis giant Head”
I’m pretty sure this isn’t news.
Anyway, It’s not surprising given that the only way they could shift their kit is through heavy discounting of their fake RRP’s with Strava challenges.
There was never really anything to say about le col kit. Most of it was alright. Some of it was poorly designed/made. Trying to position yourself as a Rapha competitor whilst always offering 40% or more off doesn’t scream premium though.
In fairness, at the time they came out Rapha was also constantly offering deep discounts – it’s only more recently they’ve done away with that – so they were basically just following the Rapha model.
Whilst a shame for any employees, their bib shorts had the worst chamois pad I’d ever encountered, utter waste of my money. Even though they were Strava challenge discount purchases, still a waste of money.
@mikecassie I bought a pair that lasted 2 rides before the stitching wore through. I complained about this and they basically said sorry, its your saddle, no one else has this issue. I’ve got various pairs of Assos bib shorts that have lasted me years with zero issues. They were just awfully designs. The stitching was loose and right over the location where your leg would interface with the saddle if there was going to be any friction.
Looking at my assos bibs, all the seams are placed where your movement isn’t going to cause problems and all of them are tight to the point of being recessed to make sure that any rubbing isn’t on an exposed thread.
Le Col offered me 20% off a new pair of their bibs which I politely declined as I didn’t think 2 short rides was worth paying 80% of RRP for.
100% agree, I have Assos and they work a lot better for me, yes they’re more expensive but a lot comfier and last a lot longer. So cost per ride Assos win hands down over Le Col.
@mctrials23 Yes, Had issues with the stitching on all my le col bibs..😬 but got them replaced twice..
@mikecassie it’s amazing to read your comment about the chamoise.. for me it’s the best i ever had till now. Tryed assos, sportfull, spatz, craft, agu. The fit and compression are excellent to so are the grippers. I would never had bought le col without the strava discounts.. But build quality is absolutely horrible !
Yeah for sure the chamois must’ve suited some people, saddle type, riding position all changes the individual perception of what’s a good or bad chamois.
I’m glad you liked it.
Hey, but their wool blend cycling adjacent t-shirts are/were fantastic.
Their socks were all right.
As someone who previously worked in the custom cycle clothing industry, I have to admit this news did make me smile. I’m sure the brand will rise like a phoenix from the flames, but just the idea that they’ve gone pop has lifted my mood.
Fair play to Yanto though, I’m sure the brand has set him up, one way or another, for life; he had a vision and he delivered on it.
But, having been at the wrong end of a strategy that involved outspending the rest of the industry (on advertising) and out-discounting on retail kit, it’s nice to know that their ‘be the last man standing’ strategy has – at least for now – failed.
One trick (let’s be fair and call it a strategy) that really frustrated me back in the day, was the way in which they used to give university cycle teams free kit. All very upstanding you say, however their motivation was more; 1. get people in your kit young and (hopefully) keep them for life – fair enough – but more acutely 2. remove decent revenue streams from your competitors. Uni teams were great because every year there was a new influx of members needing kit – so LeCol just took the market, not to make any money, just to kill it for the rest of us.
For a while I’ve thought this was an unfortunate brand name.
Several times I’ve seen cyclists riding towards me wearing Le Col jerseys with their right arm covering the L so it looks like they are advertising e.Coli.
It is for this exact reason I never purchased any Canal+ branded jerseys. Only saw it once but it was enough.
@Podc I heard that Scunthorpe CC’s experiment with wrapping the name around the jersey under the arm to make it fit didn’t go too well either.
I’m pretty much expecting this is a restructuring and everything will continue as it was before. Whether pricing and discounting stays the same I don’t know, but the business was acquired recently and this feels like part of that rather than the end.
I’m surprised by the negative comments – I prefer my lecol bibs to my Rapha ones.
Our club use lecol for our kit and I’ve found the quality is pretty good – I don’t know who else does club kit but I’ve been pretty happy with what was produced for us.
@Krislord Yeah this is a pre-pack job by the looks of it. One of those things that seems like it shouldn’t be legal, but somehow manages to be.
Like all ubiquitous brands Le Col gets up people’s noses. Cycling fashion has moved on a bit in the last couple of years too and you see more PNS and Universal Colours in Richmond Park these days. I feel a bit old for some of that stuff and I still like Le Col because they offer plenty of understated kit.
The bibs were always decent for me, obviously everyone has a different fit/needs, so they won’t be for everybody!
I’m still a massive fan of their Merino tees, great for bikepacking!
Likewise – I’ve got heaps of their stuff, and been happy with almost all of it. The only thing I’ve ever had a problem with was a pair of winter gloves that was a shape that no hand ever was.
Are you sure they weren’t overshoes?
I started with ASSOS and Rapha but increasingly bought Le Col. It’s obviously personal, but their bibs work best for me. And like others have said, their merino jerseys are my go to. Hopefully they’ll continue (particularly as I’m in the middle of their Strava Everest challenge!).
I’m surprised by some of the comments here. I’ve always found Le Col kit pretty decent, from Pro Aqua Zero jerseys to their bib shorts, especially the Pro range.