Moore Large, the UK's largest family-owned supplier and distributor of bicycles and formerly motorcycles and scooters, filed a Notice of Appointment to appoint an administrator in the High Court on 13 March.
In April 2022, the Derby-based business announced the successful completion of a management buyout by the board of directors. Retiring chairman Nigel Moore brought to an end three generations and 75 years of Moore family involvement in the business.Â
Moore Large has a long history in the motorcycle and cycle trade. John Moore opened his first bike shop in 1947, and by the early 1970s had expanded to more than 20 shops. In 1974 he teamed up with the UK distributor of Puch bicycles and mopeds in the Midlands and subsequently took over as the national distributor for the Austrian brand. In the late 1980s, John Moore was among the first to see the potential of products being manufactured in the Far East. He visited China to source bicycles and accessories and launched his own branded ranges into the market in 1986.Â
The most recent set of company accounts for the year to 31 January 2021 gave little warning of what was to follow. The company reported a tenfold increase in pre-tax profit to £6m, up from £587,213 in 2020.
The business has seen challenging times across bikes, components, and accessories in the past months. In February, the firm pulled out from the COREbike show in Northampton.
The Bicycle Association's Annual Market Data Report for 2022 showed that UK bike sales had fallen to their lowest level in two decades. Other industry analysts suggest that cycle sales fell by 22% in 2022, down to 1.8 million units and 27% below pre-Covid levels.
Auctioned assets
Joint administrators Raj Mittal and Nathan Jones of specialist business advisory firm FRP has instructed John Pye Auctions to put stock and assets up for sale.
Moore Large's inventory includes approximately 35,000 cycles with a retail value of around £25 million. In addition, accessories to the estimated tune of £10 million will also be sold-off.  News of the auction will support fears that the retail bike channel will see a vast number of reduced bikes and accessories in a market already contending with too much stock.
Stock will be available at www.johnpye.co.uk from 24 March and across all John Pye's auction sites in Nottingham, Chesterfield, Port Talbot and Derby.
Motorised division
Moore Large was a key player in the Motorcycle world not so long ago. In 1998 the company returned to the motorised sector for the first time in decades, being appointed UK distributors for Sanyang's SYM branded machines. From a relatively slow start, the company built up the Taiwanese brand to a volume player, with over 150 dealers in the UK network; they registered over 4500 units in 2001.Â
SYM changed track in 2010 and appointed MotoGB as the brand's UK distributor. Moore Large followed the loss of SYM with a short spell with the Chinese brand CPI. It was then the distributor of the KSR Moto, Brixton and Nipponia brands from 2013 before finally closing the doors on its motorised division in 2019.
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