Vulpine “back up to speed in days” as brand bought by Mango Bikes

Following a period of financial difficulty cycling apparel business Vulpine has been purchased by Mango bikes, the business has confirmed.

The direct to consumer bike label offers a portfolio of singlespeed, road and town style bikes, many of which are able to be custom painted in the UK prior to shipping. On Friday Vulpine outlined that as part of its purchase of Nick and Emmalou Hussey’s business all orders, refunds and exchanges will be honoured and that it aspires to be “back up to speed within days.”

Key members of Vulpine’s design team will continue working with Mango Bikes, advising on garment development and brand identity.

Barry Dunn will takeover as the new CEO. He re-assured existing customers: “It goes without saying we will honour all orders, refunds and exchanges. We believe in long-term trust in customer service, and we want to start as we mean to carry on. We will clear the three week backlog as soon as possible, and have brought in extra staff to do this.”

Mango Bikes founder, Ben Harrison, said of the takeover: “Vulpine and Mango will help and support each other. I look forward to us growing together as the urban cycling market matures. It’s not only fun, it also makes business sense. We can’t wait to get started.”

It was May 5th when Vulpine founder Nick Hussey notified investors of a second Crowdcube drive that the business had run out of cash and would call in administrators RSM Restructuring.

Prior to this crowdfund effort, two of the firm’s angel investors on Hussey’s board had departed the business.

Back in June of 2016 investors in the business may have been alarmed by an email sent by Hussey to Crowdcube outlining that the Vulpine business had seen revenue in the year to April 2016 dip by 22 percent down to £776,000, paired with the news that losses before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation had grown from £291,000 to £603,000.

The bicycle industry has a swelling number of brands vying for the same slice of pie and indeed the clothing sector came out top of the pile in recent CyclingIndustry.News research alongside retailers, asking “what are you most likely to stock less of in the future.“