F.W.E Realisations Limited (formerly F.W. Evans Cycles (UK) Limited) - in administration

Ceased to act

Please be advised that Companies House has registered the administration end date as 7 November 2023 and the Company is due to be dissolved on 7 February 2024. The joint administrators have now ceased to act.

Matthew Callaghan, Ian Green and David Baxendale were appointed joint administrators of F.W.E. Realisations Limited (formerly F.W. Evans Cycles (UK) Limited trading as Evans Cycles (“Evans”)) on 30 October 2018. Immediately following the appointment of administrators, the business and operating assets of the company were sold to three companies all of whom are ultimately owned by Sports Direct International Plc.

Having been established in 1921 Evans operated as a multi-channel retailer through 62 stores and online employing over 1,200 staff. With its head office, warehousing and distribution functions based in Gatwick, Evans was the leading independent specialist cycling retailer in what in the UK is a highly fragmented market.

After their appointment, the administrators commented: “We are delighted to have secured a future for the business and employees of Evans. 2018 has been a very difficult trading year for the business, in part due to the impact of the extended winter weather, but also due to a lack of cash to invest in stores and develop the ecommerce platform. A combination of the associated losses, the capex requirements and tightening credit has led to a liquidity crunch.

“Evans is a long-standing, well known and trusted brand with nearly 100 years of heritage in the cycling market. To have managed to preserve the business and transfer all staff to the purchaser is particularly pleasing.”

Since appointment, Matthew Callaghan has left the firm and as a result resigned as joint administrator with effect of 10 May 2019. In addition, due to internal leadership restructuring Ian Green resigned as joint administrator with effect of 19 December 2019 and Toby Banfield has been appointed as his replacement.

Please refer back to this page and the links below, for further information and updates as the administration progresses. In summary:

• All leasehold properties have either been transferred to the purchaser or vacated and all related property work has been completed;

• Our work in recovering outstanding debts and cash-in-transit has been completed;

• A prescribed part dividend (capped at the statutory maximum of £600k) has been paid to unsecured creditors; and

• We have extended the administration until October 2021 with permission of the court, in order to provide more time to pursue the recovery of certain claims against third parties.

^{David Robert Baxendale and Mark Tobias Banfield have been appointed as Joint Administrators of F. W. E. Realisations Limited (formerly F.W. Evans Cycles (UK) Limited) to manage its affairs, business and property as its agents without personal liability. They are licensed in the United Kingdom to act as Insolvency Practitioners by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.}

^{The Joint Administrators are bound by the Insolvency Code of Ethics which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/insolvency-practitioner-code-of-ethics.}

^{The Joint Administrators may act as controllers of personal data, as defined by the UK data protection law, depending upon the specific processing activities undertaken. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP may act as a processor on the instructions of the Joint Administrators. Personal data will be kept secure and processed only for matters relating to the Joint Administrators’ appointment. Further details are available in the privacy statement on the PwC.co.uk website or by contacting the Joint Administrators.}

Documents available to download

• Notice of move from administration to dissolution
• Joint administrators' final progress report for the period 30 April 2023 to 27 October 2023
• Joint administrators' progress report for the period 30 October 2022 to 29 April 2023
• Letter to creditors regarding proposed fee increase
• Joint administrators' progress report for the period 30 April 2022 to 29 October 2022
• Notice of extension of period of administration to 29 October 2023
• Joint administrators' progress report for the period 30 October 2021 to 29 April 2022
• Joint administrators' progress report for the period 30 April 2021 to 29 October 2021
• Letter to all known creditors - Notice of extension of administration to 29 October 2022
• Joint administrators' progress report for the period 30 October 2020 to 29 April 2021
• Joint administrators' progress report for the period 30 April 2020 to 29 October 2020
• Letter to all known creditors- Notice of Extension to 29 October 2021
• Joint administrators' progress report for the period 30 October 2019 to 29 April 2020
• Joint administrators' progress report for the period 30 April 2019 to 29 October 2019
• Notice of extension of the administration
• Joint administrators' progress report for the period 30 October 2018 to 29 April 2019
• Remuneration Report dated 5 March 2019
• AM06 - Notice of deemed approval of proposals 
• Initial letter to creditors with SIP 16 report
• Proposals for achieving the purpose of the administration 
• Statement of Claim Form for UK creditors and international creditors outside the EU 
• Statement of Claim Form for creditors in an EU Member State other than the UK
• AM01 - Notice of administrator's appointment