Evans Cycles in talks with lenders to raise £10 million

The owner of Evans Cycles is looking to restructure the business amid falling profits at the 60-store chain. ECI Partners is seeking £10 million to keep the business afloat, reports Sky News.

The financial restructuring is being handled by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Earlier in the summer BikeBiz reported that Evans was bolstered by good e-bike sales, but that profits were heading downwards.

The latest filed accounts for the company reveal that full-year pre-tax losses have been reduced from £5.8 million to £2.5 million in the 12 months to October 28th.

The store group reported sales of £138.8 million. 

A company statement said at the time that Evans had improved "profitability year on year despite broader market headwinds."

The statement continued: “The directors remain confident about the medium and long-term prospects for the UK cycling market, noting that UK adult cycling participation is significantly below European averages, especially in cities, while new products such as e-bikes continue to expand the addressable market and the government continues to invest in improving national cycling infrastructure.”

Evans Cycles was founded as F.W. Evans Cycles in 1921 with a store on the Kennington Road in south-east London. The business was purchased by Joseph Smith in the 1950s, and it stayed in the Smith family for the next sixty years. 

Evans Cycles has had a number of private equity owners and is now majority owned by the private equity group, ECI Partners.