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Wiggle ponders move to MidlandsWiggle logo

Wiggle ponders move to Midlands

Jobs threat as mail-order giant looks for more Haribo storage
by John Stevenson
Thu, Aug 07, 2014 15:33
36

Online bike shop Wiggle is reported to be considering moving its warehouse facility from its home base in Portsmouth to the Midlands, as it has outgrown all the locally available storage space.

According to Claire French of the Portsmouth News, Wiggle says it is looking ouside the area as no properties on the market are large enough to meet its needs.

According to the paper, warehouse workers have been told a consultation process is underway and redundancies are possible if the firm decides to move its warehouse.

One Wiggle employee said that morale as low as warehouse staff felt it was unlikley they would have jobs this time next year. He said he was already looking for a new job, while some Wiggle staff were waiting to see what redundancy packages were offered.

Richard Boon, human resources director for Wiggle, told The News: "The exceptional growth of Wiggle has resulted in the need for more warehouse space than the current 95,000 sq ft.

"We now require warehouse space of around 300,000 sq ft to maintain our growth momentum.

"Wiggle has been unable to find suitable premises in the Portsmouth area for its needs.

"The Midlands is one of those options."

Boon added that it was unlikley any redundancies would be implemented before the summer of 2015 and Wiggle would consider relocating staff to any new site.

Local politicians concerned at the possible loss of jobs in Portsmouth have said they will try and help Wiggle find premises.

Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt said: "We are always looking at declassifying old Ministry of Defence sites and other public land across the region.

"We have a lot of office space here but spaces for storage and factory floors is at a premium."

Councillor Luke Stubbs, Portsmouth City Council’s cabinet member for planning, regeneration and economic development, also pledged to help Wiggle find a new warehouse.

He said: "Wiggle started as a bike shop in Portsmouth nearly a century ago.

"It would be a huge shame to lose them now and obviously the loss of jobs would be a heavy blow.

"The supply of warehouse space within Portsmouth itself is pretty much fixed, but there may be sites within the wider region."

Wiggle
Portsmouth
John Stevenson

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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36 comments

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EddyBerckx | 10 years ago
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Fingers crossed this is just an attempt by wiggle to get the local politicians etc to get their fingers out and help.

I find it hard to believe they can't find space somewhere. I hope they do.

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glynr36 replied to EddyBerckx | 10 years ago
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StoopidUserName wrote:

Fingers crossed this is just an attempt by wiggle to get the local politicians etc to get their fingers out and help.

I find it hard to believe they can't find space somewhere. I hope they do.

It's not just space, its the rest of the infrastructure.
They don't want to be limited by moving into something that is perhaps only 10% bigger, it'll be a long term plan and they'll be looking for 50% more or something now so they don't have to up and move again.

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

I worked for a mail order company down south and this same thing happened.

There is a lot of money coming into the Midlands for Hub type operations.

You have to feel for the workers. It's a horrible feeling.

It's business though, the midlands is putting in a lot infrastructure in for distribution and it's a better location for it really.
An area needs to offer a business something to locate there really, and if you need to expand and where you are doesn't offer it, then you go to where the space/infrastructure is.

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KiwiMike | 10 years ago
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I'm sure there are plenty of people in the Midlands who can shift stuff from Bin A to Box B. Not to disparage the Wiggle workers, you'd prefer it didn't happen to good people but that's modern online retail for ya.

Wiggle do a good job, as do CRC. Times change, and I can't feel more than passing sadness for LBS who previously were an inefficient conduit for commodity products. The range of stuff the average cyclist can access and be riding 24hrs later is breathtaking compared to even 10 years ago - no way should we lament for the 'good old days' where it was hit/miss if your LBS had an account with the importer/distributor, and could even be arsed getting the thing in, unless you paid up front.

LBS focus on bike fit/customisation/service/emergency purchases while online retailers big & small focus on shifting stuff at low cost and fast, with an excellent returns process = Happy cyclists

Avatar
Leviathan replied to KiwiMike | 10 years ago
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KiwiMike wrote:

LBS focus on bike fit/customisation/service/emergency purchases while online retailers big & small focus on shifting stuff at low cost and fast, with an excellent returns process = Happy cyclists

I though I was initially just being cynical, but more people are spending more money on bikes and everything that goes with them, me included, because we can get what we want, get what works, get what is cool. Wiggle is just part of that. And importantly more people are riding. Vive the internet. I was made redundant in 2012, it was the best thing that happened at my old job after 6 years. The wheel turns, the world turns.

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James Warrener | 10 years ago
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I worked for a mail order company down south and this same thing happened.

There is a lot of money coming into the Midlands for Hub type operations.

You have to feel for the workers. It's a horrible feeling.

Avatar
Leviathan | 10 years ago
0 likes

Shoukd we buy less stuff from Wiggle so they don't have to move?

Anyone else get something of Wiggle, think, yeah thats alright, tuck into the Haribo then think, arr well I've eaten the Haribo now. Sugar trumps Buyers Regret.

Whilst this is a shame for the local staff and council it is really a business decision of an online shop, as long as they don't start location their headquarters in Luxembourg I am not fussed.

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