Cycle clothing brand Vulpine is "insolvent" and enters administration

I lost money too and I don't share many of these kind words. Business is first and foremost about controlling your costs and making a profit; it's not meaningless word porridge about 'joy' and 'highly technical.' When that absurd 'magazine' dropped through my door my blood ran cold. Here was a company without two cents to its name wasting money on some fluff extolling the virtues of a bike he bought for his wife. Give me strength. Luckily I can afford to lose the money I 'invested' - I hope others in the same boat can afford to do the same. It's taught me one hard lesson though - I won't be 'investing' through crowd funding again. I bought a few items and I liked them but jeans for £160? Come on! The trouble with a 'life-style' brand is that his life-style is funded with other people's money. 

Pretty low post counts for the people singing this guy's praises. Hmmm...

Personally I've admiration for getting the thing off the ground but clearly the last business moves seem shady and lacking in morals.

I've got a good bit of Vulpine stuff. Jerseys, jackets (2), t-shirts and (casual, not bib) shorts. I was into Vulpine cause of wool. I don't like wearing petroleum - unsustainable. Vulpine were one of the few still making woolen jerseys.

The jerseys were mostly good. Unusual, but nice cut - though fairly short sleeves. The pockets were a bit unusual in shape. Small, but well stitched. Helps discourage overloading that inevitably will tear wool apart I guess.

I guess I'll be going to https://cimacoppi.cc/ for jerseys from now on. More traditional cut. Heavier grade of wool in the jersey I have. Which I guess is sturdier, but you do feel it a bit more.

The Vulpine wool t-shirt is lovely, and I regularly wear it. The epic cotton cycling rain jacket I bought had some quality issues, but I bought it in a sample sale - they fixed it. Was good for heavier rain commutes, providing a bit of a barrier against the rain while still being a bit breathable - not completely waterproof, but that's the trade-off with breathability one has to make.

The epic cotton Harrington jacket is lovely and my favourite casual jacket.

The casual shorts, with diamond gusset for casual cycling, are also nice and a staple in warmer weather. Though, they are a tight fit on my legs. Luckily, they have some lycra for stretchiness.

I really liked Vulpine, but I have to say they seemed to be spreading themselves thin. They had this huge selection of things, a lot of which wasn't relevant to me, or else eye-wateringly expensive. You couldn't rely on them for staples either, e.g. wool wears fairly quickly (polyester physically lasts, but OTOH gets dreadful perma-stink within a few rides for me). I could never rely on Vulpine to have short-sleeve jerseys in stock though. Bit hit and miss (which is how I ended up discovering Cima Coppi).

Also, the regular clearance/sample sales undermined their RRP. Nearly all the stuff I bought - the jackets particularly - was in sample sales. I did buy some stuff at higher prices in years past, but the last while I knew to just wait for the next sale.

I'm very sad for the Vulpine crew. They must be gutted. Though, I note the questions being asked by some others in comments.

Ah well, Cima Coppi it is then. (And, to be fair, they seem much more focused).

It's a shame to see a British business go down the pan.

The gear was not my cup of tea, but I totally brought into Nick, his social marketing and use of media contacts has been consistantly excellent throughout the life of the business.

I feel sorry for the recent crowdfunder backers, that's got to sting! Think you're buying into someones heart and soul to help them grow, only to find out that it was precarious situation and that you've just given them a  bucket to bail out water with.

Fixie, do please continue to keep us updated on this , many thanks!

@Fixie Girl

Hi there, 

In case you’re wondering where some of your comments on this story have gone - we’ve deleted them to save you from the real risk of being sued for slander. 

Not sure how it works over there in Portland but over here if you call someone a crook you generally need to be able to back the assertion up with something more than your “Spidey Sense”. 

As for the rumours circulating in Portland - we’ve asked around and they would appear to have no basis in fact.

At least one member of the road.cc team invested money in Vulpine, we’ve been reviewing their kit since they launched, and from time to time they’ve advertised on the site - generally we like their stuff. 

Our hope is that the company will emerge from administration in some form, ideally with all or most of its workforce intact. 

Don’t know how likely that is to happen, but I do know that personal abuse and unfounded rumours from someone who seems to be neither a Vulpine customer, investor or employee is unlikely to do much to help that positive outcome become a reality - the personal abuse bit also breaks our site T&Cs.

Tony,
road.cc editor

If your comments are "100% founded"  back them up with some proof.

Until then…

I've made a note to get some popcorn in…

This thread's in for a hell of a bumping on Monday.

fixie girl,
Did you come across Mr and Mrs Hussey's newly acquired bespoke bikes during the audit?
The blog about them on the Vulpine website (now removed) insinuated that the company had purchased them. I've still got my eye on Nick's - at a fire sale price.

is this story about to be politely swept under the carpet by the cycling "press" ?

probably..

About time this place had a bit of drama 

From nick husseys latest failed crowd funding blurb on this site...

"I’m crazy ambitious, but always the ‘right’ way. A way I can always be proud of what we achieve. Always look back knowing we did our best, and did it as the good guys."

Really !!!!

Does anyone still have a copy of the "magazine" they recently sent out? I was a bit baffled by it when a paper copy came in the door a while ago - "Why are they making a magazine??". Unfortunately I only had a quick glance at it before the wife threw it in the recycling. I'd love to have a read of it now, in light of this.

the bikes in question can be viewed here;

also the mag,

https://www.vulpine.cc/uk/vulpine-is-five

Hmmm. Feel sorry for investors that thought this was a going concern.

Crowd funding is a mixed bag. If you can afford conventional credit and investment then that is what you do.

Crowd funding helps a start up, but if they're 'established' then you have to wonder why, after 3-4 years of being in business they're pursuing this unconventional route.

Nick's passion did verge onto obsession and went a little beyond. I remember how passionate he got about women's cycling. But he was a bit devil be damned about the cost. Not the ideal attitude for someone managing your investment.

'More to follow' were the last words of the original article that spawned this thread - how right that was.
The more I read on here the more I feel that Nick Hussey has stolen my money to fund his own lifestyle.
Why don't you come on here Nick and try and explain to me why I shouldn't be feeling this way. Failing that, you've got all of the investor's contact details so why not drop us a line.

Wow, taking over £9k per month in the last 4 months?

oh god;

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/tribe-takes-to-crowdcube-for-funding/02...

"Wanky nonsense" on a crowd funding site - who'd have thunked it?

Well I can't see anyone wanting to lend that guy a fiver again.

Vision - maybe

Morals - no

What is the 200k 'charge' for or is it still unknown?

How did they manage to get their money out right before insolvency? The other registered charges (HSBC) are still listed 'outstanding'?

There's an interesting update here... From someone close I would guess...

http://fantasyequitycrowdfunding.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/vulpine-illustra...

This whole episode just stinks. I'd say more but fear the wrath of the sys admins at road.cc

Does anyone have news from Nick, Vulpine or the Administrator that they can share? Or is still ziplocked until the 15th?

My colleagues in M&A do say I can be like a b*tch with a bone at times..

::Edit One of my colleagues just pointed out that Vulpine's date of Incorporation should have been a giveaway..  https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07211640 

Wow. A big thank you to fixie girl for persisting against those who might not want to hear the harsh reality.
None of this reads well and personally as one of their customers, I am sad to see this as the conclusion. That said, I had my doubts as there was persistent discounting of stock over the years and as I never paid full price for their gear and that was one of the reasons why I ruled out getting involved with the crowd funding.
Vulpine for me, a cracking concept, occasionally with a brilliant product but strategic over reach was the end of it.

Oh, so his wife was also getting a salary? So in addition to the £9k per month that Nick was paying himself over the last 4 months, his wife also was being paid?

This, well after the rest of the board had decided the game was up and the best thing to do for shareholders and others was to liquidate?

Wow...

This is a sad investment story, especially when most of the investors are individuals who invested to support cycling rather than anything else.  Everything I am writing is based on facts and can be verified with public records and I am happy to correct anything proven to be inaccurate.

Nick Hussey:

Nick has a lot to answer for and in what he wrote in investor updates and Crowdcube pitches is clearly detached from reality.  Why and how he misled investors and public, it doesn't matter, I feel sorry for the investors, his employees and suppliers.  His many absurd mistakes include:

1) Telling investors everything was rosy when it wasn't 

2) Spectacularly missing his targets and promises in almost every way

3) Engaging in nepotism by hiring his wife as GM

4) The true status and length of the Hoy brand was not revealed until very late in the day

5) To try and raise money at an absurd valuation of £6.5m when the company was almost bankrupt

6) Getting rid of everyone that opposed him on the board and engaging in autocratic governance

7) Engaging in vanity projects such as the magazine to 40,000 people and the custom bikes for him and his wife when the company was about to go into administration

Crowdcube:

They have a lot to answer for and were very irresponsible: 

1) The most recent fundraising was due to complete in around the time the company filed for administration.  Vulpine was in dire straits financially, days from administration and they wanted ordinary punters to invest at a valuation of £6.5m

2) In the pitch presentation they allowed Vulpine to describe the loan/charge from HSBC as "vote of confidence", "an extremely significant financial health certificate" amongst other things

3) The main pitch had limited financial data especially around liabilities and current cash position which is critical

4) The pitch said in the section why you should invest in Vulpine "Vulpine is on the cusp of achieving break-even after an extremely successful year..." when the reality is they were on the cusp of administration

The previous pitch in 2015

1) No mention of the Hoy brand being finite and a lot of punters really went for Vulpine because Hoy is a real brand name!  Very material information! 

2) The company went on Crowdcube halfway through it's financial year so knew where the numbers were going to be.  They forecasted more than £800,000 of gross profit but ended up with only £170,000 for the whole year...so at the time Vulpine went to market (halfway through the year) they made at most £170,000 of gross profit and had little to no chance of achieving anything like the forecast

I can point out a lot more but think the point is made. My advice on Crowdcube is, DON'T TOUCH WITH A BARGE POLE...plenty of better places to put your money and if good causes is your purpose there are plenty of those as well.

I hope no one lost money they can't afford, I would encourage everyone to write to the FCA and the Financial Ombudsman.