WiggleCRC to axe 300 jobs

[frank9755]

The other thing to consider, before getting too angry about things, is who does Bridgepoint, the private equity owners of Wiggle, represent?

The main investors in private equity are life insurance and pension funds. So, those of us with a pension, or life insurance, benefit directly from the savings made from closing down the CTC warehouse.

We are all part of the system, even if we might not like aspects of it at times.

 

[Cycleops]

Good point @frank9755 . I also think being made redundant or losing your job is not necessarily such a bad thing. It's happened to me many times in the past and it's nearly always meant I've been able to secure a better job. The old adage one door closes etc still holds true.

 

[ufkacbln]

Wiggle has been "BIg Business" for some years

It was bought out by Bridgepoint in 2011 and joins portfolio including Deliveroo, Pret a Manger, Hobby Craft and Leeds Airport.

Local matters are no longer a priority

 

[e-rider]

Good point @frank9755 . I also think being made redundant or losing your job is not necessarily such a bad thing. It's happened to me many times in the past and it's nearly always meant I've been able to secure a better job. The old adage one door closes etc still holds true.

that might be your experience but it's not the same for everyone - many people struggle to find work again and can goes years unemployed (I am one of those people)

 

[ufkacbln]

[QUOTE 4529464, member: 45"]Find another small bike shop which has branched into online sales, and bonsai it before the money-grabbers start sniffing around.[/QUOTE]

I remember this house being "Butlers" a small local bike shop in Southsea

Started doing mail order and than a couple of the lads decided to use the new fangled internet for the orders

The rest, as they say .... is History

 

[mjr]

The rest, as they say .... is History

Just like their bike shops and all its jobs are now history too...

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Good point @frank9755 . I also think being made redundant or losing your job is not necessarily such a bad thing. It's happened to me many times in the past and it's nearly always meant I've been able to secure a better job. The old adage one door closes etc still holds true.

It is a bad thing. CRC isn't the only large employer closing it's doors, a lot of the bigger firms have packed up already or are in the process of doing so.

The vacancies are just not there when the redundancy cheque book gets opened. I can tell you for certain, I will not be in my job beyond 2020 and even that's a best case scenario. Nearly 9 years done, I'm sitting tight putting years on redundancy package and paying into a pension at this point.

To be honest, I'm somewhat looking forward to a break when the time comes....

 

[e-rider]

no longer shopping at Wiggle or CRC

 

[MrGrumpy]

Funnily enough not bought much from either shop for a while . Been buying from other online shops and err Halfords :-) Surprisingly taking into account 10% off they are not too bad price wise on some stuff .

 

[Cycleops]

no longer shopping at Wiggle or CRC

Funnily enough not bought much from either shop for a while . Been buying from other online shops and err Halfords :-) Surprisingly taking into account 10% off they are not too bad price wise on some stuff .

So much for brand loyalty.

 

[User482]

What are you? Some kind of expert?! You're getting in the way of some people who just want a good rant at the Unfairness of The Man.

Perhaps those you so glibly dismiss are not stupid, but are more ready to show empathy for the soon-to-be unemployed, than you appear to be.

 

[srw]

Perhaps those you so glibly dismiss are not stupid, but are more ready to show empathy for the soon-to-be unemployed, than you appear to be.

TMN (with rather less condescension) to @swansonj

 

[GrumpyGregry]

They will keep the CTC brand, in the UK at least. The deal wasn't really about the UK though, and want really about closing operations, but about avoiding having to open new ones.
Wiggle's main strategy is to roll out internationally to less mature markets where the competition is a bit less intense and where they can potentially get better margins as a result. CRC was already in some countries where wiggle wants to be and it is quicker to buy rather than build up the operations from scratch.
The northern Irish operations were essentially a bit of collateral damage / extra savings, from serving both websites from one back end.
The closure of the NI operations would have been part of the deal valuation though, and wiggle would have paid the previous owners a sum to reflect the value of those savings.

It's a great shame that folks in NI will lose their jobs. A great shame but an utterly foreseeable consequence of Wiggle buying CRC. Wiggle buying CRC is just a part of how 'big business' works. That many relate to Wiggle and CRC with the same sort of emotional attachment as their local bike shop baffles me given the former are, for far and away the vast majority of their customers, faceless web brands with very limited human interaction, and only one main goal; profit.

 

[srw]

And all a consequence of cycling becoming a more mainstream leisure activity.

It would be interesting to know what proportion of Wiggle's income is purely cycling related rather than running or triathlon driven.

 

[srw]

It's a great shame that folks in NI will lose their jobs.

It is. It's also a shame that it appears to be necessary to spell it out for fear of being called a heartless bastard - or worse.