Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative sold to director – Daily Business

Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative has been sold to its director in a deal that secures the future of the brand, including four stores, while two will close.

Established in 1977 the business also operated a distribution centre in Newbridge. In recent years, it has faced significant financial pressure as a result of declining sales as inflation affected discretionary consumer spending.

The leadership team launched a turnaround plan to strengthen its financial position, but sustained trading losses gave rise to cash flow difficulties, impacting the ability to meet liabilities and secure additional debt funding.

Without a viable solvent solution, the business couldn’t continue in its current form. Alistair McAlinden and James Dewar of Interpath were appointed as joint managers on 1 October and have sold the business and certain assets to Rothar26, a company led by Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative director Alan Nestor.

The Edinburgh stores in Stockbridge and Bruntsfield, together with Newcastle and Stirling will transfer to the buyer, alongside 35 staff.

The store in Aberdeen and the business’ distribution centre are not part of the transaction and will close. The store in Canonmills (Edinburgh) had already closed prior to the appointment with the remaining 25 staff being made redundant.

The business will continue to trade under the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative brand. As part of Rothar26, it will honour all gift vouchers, which can be presented by customers at any of the four stores. Customers who have placed orders or have bikes in shop will have those fulfilled and should complete their purchase as usual.

For customers to the Aberdeen store, customer deposits have been ring-fenced and will be returned by the joint managers who will arrange with customers the collection of any bikes in this store for repair.

Mr McAlinden, managing director Interpath and joint manager of Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative, said: “The Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative brand has been part of the fabric of the cycling community for decades.

“Despite a loyal customer base and commitment to a turnaround plan, it could not overcome persistent economic challenges. We are pleased to have completed a transaction that will see the brand continue and wish the buyer every success.

“Unfortunately, the economics of the business meant that not all operations could be rescued and our immediate priority is to support impacted staff through this difficult period in making claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.”

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