Mike Ashley set to take over Wiggle Chain Reaction as administrators “close the shutters” amid mass redundancies, sources suggest

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group appears set to complete the takeover of Wiggle Chain Reaction, road.cc understands, amid claims from former employees that the beleaguered online retailer’s administrators have “closed the shutters”, as reports of another wave of mass redundancies appear to have affected almost everyone within the company.

In October, Wiggle CRC entered administration and was put up for sale in the wake of the financial crisis that engulfed its Berlin-based parent company Signa Sports United (SSU), resulting in 105 jobs being cut at Wiggle, Chain Reaction, and distributor Hotlines as the brand’s joint administrators prepared for the business for sale amid “interest from several parties”.

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And now, as reports emerge that almost all of Wiggle CRC’s remaining staff have lost their jobs, Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group – which owns fellow online cycling retailers Evans Cycles and ProBikeKit – appears set to complete its purchase of the company, sources have told road.cc.

road.cc understands that Frasers Group’s purchase of Wiggle CRC is the likely catalyst for this latest wave of job cuts, with several employees appearing to confirm the news on LinkedIn, with one now former staff member writing that the “administrators have closed the shutters”.

“Unfortunately, my time is up, along with everyone else within the organisation,” one employee posted on the website, while another wrote: “After almost having made it to 10 years at Chain Reaction Cycles and then WiggleCRC, it’s now time to say goodbye… Very sad day saying goodbye to colleagues and the business as a whole.”

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A spokesperson for Wiggle CRC’s administrators declined to comment when approached by road.cc, and it remains to be seen how Frasers Group’s purchase will affect the company’s status, including its future relationship with potential fellow subsidiary and online retailer Evans, and that of its in-house brands like Vitus and NukeProof.

Last May, former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group bought the stock and intellectual property assets of online retailer ProBikeKit (PBK), which had previously shut down its lifestyle division citing “lossmaking”.

The acquisition of PBK was also handled through Frasers’ Evans Cycles subsidiary, bought by retail entrepreneur Ashley in 2018.

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After recording a pre-tax loss of over £97 million in 2022, alarm bells began to ring concerning the future of Wiggle Chain Reaction last autumn, after parent company Signa Sports United (SSU) reported “severe liquidity and profitability challenges” and delisted its shares.

As a result, SSU’s €150 million funding commitment from its own parent company, Signa Holding, was withdrawn, ushering in an increasingly gloomy outlook for Wiggle and the group’s other cycling businesses, which include Bikester, Probikeshop, and Farrhad.de.

Soon after, as SSU filed for insolvency, Wiggle’s seemingly inevitable plunge into administration was confirmed, as its joint administrators put the company up for sale and cut 105 jobs by the start of November.

Administrators reported “considerable interest” for the business from potential buyers, among them Ashley’s Frasers Group, and in December said they remained “optimistic” over the possibility of a sale amid “considerable trading profit”.