Millionaire Mike Ashley has cut hundreds of Evans Cycles jobs despite advice from the chain’s administrator that “almost all” of its stores are profitable.
Sports Direct, which snapped up the remnants of the bicycle retailer last month, has warned that only half its stores can be kept open. Evans Cycles has 62 shops and employs 1,300 people.
Ashley bought the firm, which is almost 100 years old, by way of a pre-pack administration for just £8m.
An administrators’ proposals document revealed that PwC concluded “almost all the stores were profitable” but the company was “burdened” by fixed costs at its head office.
