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news
Dawes Century SE stem.jpgDawes and Claud Butler to be merged by owner
The operations of two of historic British bicycle brands, Dawes and Claud Butler, are to be merged by their owner Tandem Group as it looks to improve efficiency against a backdrop of the uncertainty caused by the UK voting to leave the European Union.
Currently, the Claud Butler division comprises not just that eponymous brand, but others including British Eagle, alongside the separate Dawes Cycles division.
In a statement, managing director Steve Grant said: “Although Claud Butler and Dawes have worked closely together for some time, with immediate effect, the two businesses will be merged and will be known as Tandem Group Cycles.
“We will still be wholly focused on the independent dealer sector. We have continued to invest in our large Scunthorpe warehouse facilities to accommodate these changes and enable distribution of the ranges from one location with our sales, product development and back office functions being administered from our existing Birmingham offices,” he added.
“This change will result in a more streamlined and efficient operation, completely focused on supporting the independent sector, developing the Claud Butler, Dawes and Academy brands complemented by our new Squish junior and entry level British Eagle ranges. Our Pulse parts and product range will augment these."
News that the two units are to be merged comes just a fortnight after the Castle Bromwich, West Midlands-based business, which is also active in the mobility aids and sports and leisure markets, was reported by BikeBiz to be making several staff redundant, with the impact of Brexit believed to be behind it.
In September, when Tandem Group issued a trading statement alongside its interim results covering the six months to 30 June 2016, it noted that “it has been a particularly challenging period for the UK leisure cycling market.”
It also said that business had “further been impacted by significant promotional activity by certain large competitors over recent months and an oversupply of product in the market.”
The company added that “The challenging environment has also been exacerbated by the weakness in sterling following the outcome of the EU Referendum vote,” and said that while it hedges “a proportion of our future US dollar requirement, we have had no alternative but to increase prices to mitigate this impact.”
Sales through the Bicycles, accessories and mobility side of the business were approximately £9.0 million in the 38 weeks to 23 September 2016 compared to £11.8 million in the comparable period in 2015.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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16 comments
I wonder if the new brand will be named Claud Dawes...
and promoted by Matt Lucas
"developing the Claud Butler, Dawes and Academy brands " - that, right there, is the point: Dawes, Claud Butler, Academy... they're just names and logos, branded to be aimed at a particular demographic, but no real significance other than that.
I've had 2 Claud Butler bikes.
First was an Oracle mountain bike - the forks bent at the crown and I had a fight with the bike shop to get them replaced under warranty on the basis that I thought a mountain bike should be built to take a bit of abuse.
It then got stolen and replaced with a Trek SingleTrack, which I still have tucked away in the garage.
My hack bike started as an "Elite" road bike with a nice Reynolds 531 touring frame. Unfortunately, I went to wipe off what I thought was a bit of dirt on the frame and put my finger through the seat tube. It was replaced under warranty with a "San Remo" high tensile steel frame, almost certainly as the closest colour in the then current range, which has a racier geometry but is otherwise inferior in every way - i.e. crap. Complained, but didn't get anywhere - told that they no longer made a 531 frame. Haven't looked at the brand since.
The Galaxy was the benchmark touring bike for years, but I've thought for a long time it was overpriced new.
As has been said above a few times, the age of Dawes and Claud Butler as anything but names is gone. The have been Sports Direct'd as they now just provide a good enough for casuals product and the stuff that seems to have decent spec on is over-priced and pretty boring looking. Look at their CX range compared to say a Planet X or Cannondale model.
Once a company stops dictating the look of things and then falls behind a couple of steps further behind then the name is all that's left. I'm sure Brexit has affected things but people just have more choices now and bringing out bikes in beige isn't the best idea.
Dawes and Claud Butler have never had an appeal to anyone under the age of 60. To survive in today's competitive market you need to appeal to Yoof Culture, Hipsters or those old Curmudgeons trying to recapture their virility. I'm afraid that the damage done to these two brands came decades before the term Brexit was even dreamt of. Unlike Raleigh, they've not exactly set the World alight with their designs over the years...
Anyway, here's my Dawes
2016-09-24 10.49.21.jpg
Neat. They might have done better had they produced that themselves.
barbarus is on the button. Brands cant survive if they were 'once good" The market changes every year and if you are not offering attractive products, and an evolution of their existing 'iconic' designs......the merger will be followed by..." I remember Dawes" ALL management fault. Dawes should have been on top of the Steel return to popularity and leading the adventure bikes revolution.
Longer term is this perhaps due to weak brand management of once great names? The galaxy is probably Dawes' iconic product and the explosion of much sexier bikes that do a similar job to the galaxy must have hurt them.
Similarly, you'd be looking on eBay for vintage bikes to find a Claud Butler that wasn't unglamorous at best. I'm not surprised that they are under pressure and I'm not sure how much it's got to do with brexit.
So the economy has grown since the Brexit vote. More people are employed in UK. The economy is going well. Thus this really has little to do with Brexit...
Did you bother to read the article or is this just a knee jerk Brexit post? It specifically cites the fall in Sterling as a driver for increased costs. Transport and import costs go up as the pound falls. The fall in the pound is due to the vote to leave the EU. Hence Brexit is partially to blame. Why is this hard to understand?
Ironic that the merging of two cycling brands into one would be done by a group called Tandem.
Rather, apt, no?
Ironic would be if the company was named "Two completely separate bicycle brands never to merge".
amen
It's like Raaaaaaain, on your wedding day.
10,000 tyre levers when all you need is a 9mm allen key