Report reveals failed attempts to keep Moore Large afloat

An administrator’s report, recently published, has shone further light on the end of former UK cycle industry stalwart Moore Large, the distributor of over seven decade’s worth of trading that closed in Q1 2023.

The document reveals that Moore Large’s finances were being reviewed in September 2022, a full six months before administrators were called in. The company received three offers of full or partial acquisitions in attempts to keep the distributor’s business running, which ultimately fell through.

The administrator’s report bluntly notes a common scenario the cycle (and other) industry faced where Moore Large “continued to place orders with suppliers based on increased trading volumes and extended lead times (in some cases two years)”. Overstocks absorbed working capital with a knock-on effect of requiring extended lending facilities and creditor arrears.

At HSBC’s behest, FRP Advisory Trading Limited was introduced to Moore Large in late September 2022 to review its balance sheet. By November, that review broadened and found there was “no reasonable prospect of refinancing the group with an alternative lender to generate the funding required”.

Acquisition plans fall through

By the end of November, FRP’s remit extended again to work on an accelerated merger and acquisition over a “restricted timetable due to mounting cash flow and creditor pressure”, while the company continued to trade “in order to maximise the prospects of achieving a going concern sale”. Three solvent offers were received, including one that required creditors to agree cutting debts owed by Moore Large. While the offer was accepted, the party withdrew in the due diligence phase “citing concerns over the extent of the forecast funding requirements”.

A further lifeline didn’t work out either – with an entity controlled by the directors set up to buy the company business and assets via a pre-pack transaction. However, the purchaser’s proposed funders withdrew their offer for funding.

With no other proceedable offers, administrators were appointed on 13 March 2023.

While CI.N does not wish to be ‘ghoulish’ picking over the final months of Moore Large, there may be some merit in drilling down to the causes of its demise, not least for other distributors to note. The administrator’s picking out of “long lead times” as among the factors hitting Moore Large’s cash flow might focus attention on the set up of the cycling industry’s supply chain, which heaps significant pressure on purchasers having to predict buying patterns and the state of the economy in one to two years time. Arguably, however,  it was a fairly unique set of circumstances affecting the industry that did for Moore Large; an unprecedented pandemic followed by a boom period and then a tough economic environment of inflation hitting consumer finances. And all a matter of months after Moore Large’s MBO in early 2022.