35,000 bikes and accessories will be sold via auction over the coming weeks following the collapse of British distributor Moore Large.
Moore Large suffered financial problems in 2022 after the post-COVID-19 oversupply of bikes led to significant discounting. A stock clearance sale last November failed to lift revenues sufficiently as excess supply remains a major problem. Over 100 people are now set to lose their jobs.
According to reports in bicycle industry and our sister site Cycling Weekly, the Moore Large administrators, FRP advisory, appointed Nottingham-based auction house John Pye & Sons to sell the bikes and accessories.
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The 35,000 bikes are valued at £25 million, with the accessories, including clothing and helmets valued at £10 million.
The auction will begin on March 24, with new lots of bikes and accessories added every week. Details of the auction and lots will be revealed on the John Pye & Sons website. Delivery of the lots is available nationally across Great Britain.
Moore Large sold a number of different brands to the UK market, including Forme, Lake, Microshift, Barracuda and Vitesse. Retailers are likely to bid on the lots, further flooding the marketplace with bikes and accessories.
“Since Covid, cycling as a hobby has increased exponentially, so this is an opportunity for enthusiasts to potentially secure some big-name bikes and accessories at a great price,” Charles Loake of John Pye Business & Property said.
“We have the systems and knowledge in place to ensure we can sell the Moore Large & Co. stock with the highest level of efficiency and return for its creditors.”
Moore Large had traded successfully for more than 70 years but was the subject of a management buyout in April 2022 by Dale Vanderplank, Adam Garner, Adam Biggs and Andrew Walker. This marked the end of the Moore family's involvement in the bicycle business.
Briggs told Derbyshire Live that “significant discounts” after the Covid boom were a major factor in the brand’s collapse.
“Big demand led to a big increase in supply,” he said. “Then the supply caught up and lots of stock arrived in the first quarter of 2022. There was a year’s worth of bikes arriving in the UK at the same time which meant there was a massive oversupply.
“That triggered significant discounts at every level between 30% and 50%. People were still buying bikes but not at a fast enough rate for us to cover our costs.”
“It has been a very difficult time after we all worked so hard to save Moore Large. To all the staff, I really can’t thank them enough for their loyalty and commitment.”
