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Vulpine founder Nick Hussey working with new owners Mango Bikes to ensure smooth transition

New Vulpine CEO Barry Dunn says Hussey will "help us unravel the complexity of Vulpine"...

Vulpine founder Nick Hussey, who put the business into administration in early May after it ran out of money, will be working with new owners Mango Bikes to ensure a smooth transition, road.cc has learnt.

The Gloucestershire-based bike brand bought the urban cycling clothing business on 26 May, three weeks after Hussey admitted he had been forced to call in the administrators.

Mango Bikes CEO Barry Dunn has taken on the same role at Vulpine, and last week updated the near 600 people who had backed the business during its successful crowdfunding investment drive in late 2015 about the acquisition.

> Mango Bikes updates Vulpine Crowdcube investors after acquisition

Her subsequently confirmed to road.cc that Vulpine founder and former CEO Hussey would be assisting Mango Bikes as the business made the transition to its new ownership, saying he “is involved to help us unravel the complexity of Vulpine.

Dunn continued: “He’ll be around for three or four months to make sure we have the keys for everything where he can. A kind of handover if you can call it that.

“Making contact with all the factories and understanding what's on order which has been hugely important as the last thing we want is to run out of stock.

“There’s also some great new product already developed so it’s important we get hold of that stuff.”

When Mango Bikes confirmed last month that its bid had been the one preferred by Vulpine’s administrators, it said that one of its priorities would be clearing the backlog of orders, refunds and other customer-related issues that had built up during the three weeks when the brand’s future had been in doubt.

> Mango Bikes promises to honour "all orders, refunds and exchanges" after buying Vulpine

“The backlog of orders is clear and we’re on top of customer emails,” Dunn told us. “I was lucky enough to retain a customer service lady from Vulpine and she’s amazing. She had it all under control in a couple of days.”

He said: “I’m blown away by the positive response from the Vulpine customers, people genuinely love Vulpine and the product.

“Even the investor email which is obviously an emotive subject received a majority of positive messages,” he added.

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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18 comments

Avatar
davel | 6 years ago
3 likes

He's looking very happy with the loot he's showing off in his jacket pocket. Anyone work out what it is?

I'm taking a punt at it being an OPENED bag of limited edition Skittles Sours, bought for USD13,876 at auction in Macau.

Avatar
longhaul.cc | 6 years ago
2 likes

anyone know the RAL colour for Nick's teeth in that photo?

Avatar
AndrewDeKerf replied to longhaul.cc | 6 years ago
3 likes

longhaul.cc wrote:

anyone know the RAL colour for Nick's teeth in that photo?

 

Somewhere between 9003 and 9010

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DrG82 replied to longhaul.cc | 6 years ago
1 like

longhaul.cc wrote:

anyone know the RAL colour for Nick's teeth in that photo?

I'm more concerned about the state of that jacket, it really doesn't give the correct impression of the CEO of what is/was essentially a fashion brand to be wearing such a baddly ironed jacket.

Avatar
brooksby replied to DrG82 | 6 years ago
1 like

DrG82 wrote:

longhaul.cc wrote:

anyone know the RAL colour for Nick's teeth in that photo?

I'm more concerned about the state of that jacket, it really doesn't give the correct impression of the CEO of what is/was essentially a fashion brand to be wearing such a baddly ironed jacket.

Its not badly ironed, just a terrible fit. They often stick a suit jacket on someone who doesn't usually wear one, for publicity photos, because it's supposed to make them look smarter... Seriously: who (who is not a top gear presenter) wears a suit jacket over a white tshirt?

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Yorkshire wallet replied to brooksby | 6 years ago
5 likes

brooksby wrote:

Seriously: who (who is not a top gear presenter) wears a suit jacket over a white tshirt?

//fiftiesweb.com/tv/miami-vice-still8.jpg)

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simonmb replied to DrG82 | 6 years ago
3 likes

DrG82 wrote:

I'm more concerned about the state of that jacket, it really doesn't give the correct impression of the CEO of what is/was essentially a fashion brand to be wearing such a baddly ironed jacket.

It's not a jacket, it's a coat. Potatoes wear jackets. Oh, wait. It might be a jacket then.

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Greedo | 6 years ago
3 likes

Unbelievable...this guys visage will never cease to pop up on Road CC.

Playing the old self promotion game again.

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Simon E | 6 years ago
1 like

“I was lucky enough to retain a customer service lady from Vulpine and she’s amazing. She had it all under control in a couple of days."

This is why good staff are worth looking after. Too many employers and managers might love their spreadsheets and powerpoints but they know sweet FA about managing the most important resource a company has - the staff.

Good luck to Mango. IMHO Vulpine is a brand worth retaining.

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simonmb | 6 years ago
1 like

Better to have him on the inside pissing out, rather than the outside pissing in. Regardless of what happened before, I'm sure NH is a guy who wants to see this smoothly through to the end of his involvement now.

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Freddy56 | 6 years ago
1 like

Mango have bought a dud. The brand destroyed its finest supporters and squandered a million.

Our money is lost.

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Yorkshire wallet | 6 years ago
7 likes

By complexity he means bad management and helping yourself.

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Grahamd | 6 years ago
3 likes

Logic defeats me. Buy a business that's been ruined by bad management, then employ the guy who ran it? 

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Fixie Girl replied to Grahamd | 6 years ago
2 likes
Grahamd wrote:

Logic defeats me. Buy a business that's been ruined by bad management, then employ the guy who ran it? 

And I wonder at what remuneration? I'm am sure the shareholders and investors would love to know.

Can't imagine Hustle doing it pro bono!!!

Avatar
Carton replied to Fixie Girl | 6 years ago
2 likes

Fixie Girl wrote:
Grahamd wrote:

Logic defeats me. Buy a business that's been ruined by bad management, then employ the guy who ran it? 

And I wonder at what remuneration? I'm am sure the shareholders and investors would love to know. Can't imagine Hustle doing it pro bono!!!

I'd venture something more than symbolic but less than obscene. See, this looks tawdry, but as you might already know, it is usually a win-win. The disgraced CEO usually wants to ingratiate himself with the new owner, mainly, in order to attempt to avoid getting sued.  The new owner really needs to maintain some of the know-how and existing relationships to have a better shot of salvaging the company.  They're gambling that that is worth a little questionable PR. And iif serious malfeasance is uncovered, the company can sue him anyway. 

Avatar
Huw Watkins replied to Grahamd | 6 years ago
1 like

Grahamd wrote:

Logic defeats me. Buy a business that's been ruined by bad management, then employ the guy who ran it? 

 

Seems like an extremely sensible arrangement.  Someone one needs to show the new owners how the business runs.

Vulpine's not the first fashion business to have been stuffed by cash flow and stock issues.  

Re. the crowdfunding investors - it's their look out if they back a business founded and managed by someone with limited experience operating in a sector where life expectancy can be short.

Avatar
brooksby | 6 years ago
0 likes

(duplicate)

Avatar
brooksby | 6 years ago
7 likes

Wow: you left comments open on this story? I hope road.cc bought in extra bandwidth...

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