Online cycling and multisport retailer Wiggle has posted a 19% increase in sales for its financial year ended 2 February 2014. The revenue uplift saw the retailer increase its hold on the multisport space with revenues rising from £141 million to £168 million in the period.
Wiggle Chief Executive Stefan Barden told Retail Week, “The underlying performance of the business in the year has been strong, with fast growth in Europe and clear evidence of further market share gains in the UK. “The momentum has continued into the current financial year with major investment projects underway to not only drive profitable growth but also provide the capacity and infrastructure to support and manage it.
“As a major exporter, ongoing currency headwinds – particularly the recent euro weakness – are unhelpful, but we continue to evolve the business model to better cope with these external pressures.”
As noted by Retail Week, the company claims that the revenue increase has moved it above Chain Reaction Cycles as the biggest global retailer of triathlon products, as its rivals’ sales reportedly dropped 6% to £144.9 million.
The origins of Wiggle can be traced back to a small independent bike shop called Butler Cycles, which had been trading since the 1920s. The bricks and mortar shop was located in Portsmouth, UK, and employed a handful of staff.
Wiggle officially started trading on 28 May 1999 for an initial investment of just £2000 by founder Mitch Dall and his new business partner Harvey Jones. Wiggle’s first official premises was a modest spare room at the back of the ‘Bikes @ Butlers’ store. To get their online business off the ground, Mitch and Harvey started selling some of the shop’s stock on the internet.
In April 2009 Mitch Dall sold his shares in Wiggle to the private equity company ISIS Equity Partners (who had invested in Wiggle in 2006) and to Wiggle’s existing management team.
Wiggle was sold to the private equity investment company Bridgepoint in December 2011. Bridgepoint specialises in investing in middle market businesses and is ‘driving Wiggle forward and ensuring that the company continues to raise the bar and provide a great service and stocking the very best products.’
