Pure Electric to close majority of UK stores, full focus now on eScooters

Pure Electric is to close the majority of its UK stores, CyclingIndustry.News has learned, unfortunately resulting in the loss of numerous retail jobs across the store portfolio.

This evening a notice appeared on the doors of a handful of branches pointing to an early closure in view of a “company update”. That, CI.N has now confirmed with the retailer, is a strategy shift that will now see the business refocus its energy specifically on the electric scooter marketplace, the sector upon which the business was founded. At launch the business was known as Pure Scooters.

A Pure Electric spokesperson confirmed that “We have decided to move away from offering eBikes to remove complexity from our business and have made the very tough decision to go into consultation based on the proposal to close the majority of our retail stores.

“Neither are easy choices, and the impact on our store colleagues, should we conclude to step away from owned stores will be significant, although in order to move forward and deliver our goals, we’re compelled to embrace change. In the immediate term, our main focus is to support those team members affected by the proposed changes as we move through this pivotal period for the business.”  

As of March 9th, 2022, the date when a £10 million Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance facility was announced, the retail chain employed 284 people across 17 stores in the UK. Affected staff have been informed of the planned portfolio trim today, though it is unclear at this time how many jobs will be lost or repositioned in the company. Sources that have spoken to CI.N this week suggest that all bar one store is likely to close.

Opened with fanfare only in May of 2021, but already closed is the Plymouth Rotunda branch. Likewise, the firm’s first and only Northern Irish store, near Belfast City Hall, has seen the plug pulled less than a year into its existence, albeit this has been reported to be a “seasonal pop up” and to have had a lease expire. The Tooley Street location has also been confirmed to close in recent months.

Many of the stores under the portfolio are at premises taken on from Cycle Republic, the once Halfords owned retail chain, that move property along back in 2019, just prior to the pandemic. 11 such stores were taken on and the portfolio has since grown. Notably, Pure Electric is no longer UK exclusive, having opened in Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona and with several partners also active in France, among other destinations.

“We also grew our distribution channels, adding over 180 points of distribution through partnerships with FNAC and Darty in France, in addition to our eCommerce and Pure retail stores,” explained Pure’s spokesperson.

What started out as a lofty ambition to quickly grow a portfolio of hundreds of stores across Europe appears to have diverged with full focus dedicated to electric scooters as countries have adopted more favourable legislation. The brand has turned to directly sourcing its own brand goods on both electric scooter and eBike.

This announcement is especially timely in the UK. The Queen’s Speech in May announced plans to fully legalise private ownership, something that Founder Adam Norris has repeatedly said will unlock freedom in transportation for those who most need to get away from car reliance.

In France there exists a network of partner stores, something which Pure has told CI.N will now form part of the revised strategy.

“Over the coming months, we’ll be putting our full focus on our Pure branded e-scooter category, continuing to build our eCommerce business and developing our partnerships with strategic retailers,” said the spokesperson.

“To maintain our trajectory towards delivering our mission, it’s vital that our business remains focussed on creating better and differentiated products that connect with consumers in the categories we believe will generate the most significant impact, and that we’re able to effectively scale our offering to more consumers across the globe,” they added.  

The business has notoriously been majority self-funded by Norris, a former Director of Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management and also widely known as the father and manager to Formula One talent Lando Norris. His fortune amassed previously saw his name appear on the Bristol Rich List.

Upon launching the business, Norris told CI.N that his motivation has not necessarily been to make millions with the business.

“My primary motivation is to do something good for mankind. I’ve built big businesses, have a decent personal fortune and now I’m ready to make an impact on the world. I had considered initially that I might do that in the education sector, or perhaps by investing in work on cancer, but one thing aligned well with my background and skillset, something that I fundamentally understood and had interest in with my engineering background; that was the potential of micromobility forms to make a difference on things like pollution,” he said in 2020.

Outside of Pure Electric, which had released numerous own-brand models of electric scooter, CI.N research shows the enthusiasm for stocking the micromobility products by independent bike retailers is dropping. 49% said they will carry less than they did last year, 48% “the same” (including those who never have carried them) and just 4% interested in upping stocks.