Evans Cycles

No wonder it never sold. Must have been a tricky ride.

https://news.sky.com/story/bike-retailer-evans-cycles-in-talks-with-lenders-as-chain-struggles-11492689

That's the usual for Evans though isn't it?

Oh boy, does anyone who's worked at Evans have stories about why they're seeking more cash.
Short sighted at its best.

Most likely need money to expand online so they can attempt to rival wiggle. My guess is they have noticed they either put up a fight or get killed off over a few years by occupying that not quite "local bike shop" and not quite online/megastore.

Just poor management and such, shame really.

Even with a £1,000 bonus for any mechanic who stayed from April to September, they're still leaving.

Yep. Shame indeed, as there were times when I thought there was a really feint possibility that they could skirt the LBS/Megastore line and become loved and profitable at the same time.

I mean, this is just another coin for the wishing well, but they could have retained super experienced and knowledgeable staff by listening to their input about running the stores and paying them a decent living wage.
Instead they implemented pointless motivational programs and threw blindly at a dart board for investments.

Very accurate. Back when I was an assistant manager (a fair few years now) I had a bust up with the then head of retail over the new “basket size” targets, when he literally suggested pushing people to buy more than one set of lights at once. IIRC we were actually penalised for not hitting an average of three items per transaction.

Shortly after I left to take a pay rise as a bottom rung mechanic elsewhere

Evans has been badly run for years. They are owned by typical investor types who kept demanding expansion and now they’ve overstretched themselves. They have a pathetic pay structure which means next to no staff loyalty and a ridiculously high staff turnover, and staff theft from stores to make up wages is endemic. Their centralised workshop failure a few years ago is ghestuff of legend, too.

centralised workshop failure a few years ago

Central workshop was fun. I had a great time there with some people who really knew their shit, but the logistics and servicing structure of the whole thing made it unfeasible.
They believed it should make the same amount of money as a store. It didn't, and management didn't understand that.
They also failed to grasp the point that workshops generally don't make as much money as selling bikes.

@jackbepablo Yup, that was one of the fundamental issues. If you you genuinely cared and were frustrated enough that you actively wanted to help change things for the positive, you were better off talking to a wall.
I don't think it'll go, but if Evans does disappear, it'll leave quite a big vacuum in some fantastic locations.

I mean, this is just another coin for the wishing well, but they could have retained super experienced and knowledgeable staff by listening to their input about running the stores and paying them a decent living wage.

So much this.

They spend a lots of money on motivational programes (such as the spiral of positivity to encourage well.. positivity) but still stand their ground with the fixed salaries no matter your experiences and years at the company.

Their centralised workshop failure a few years ago is ghestuff of legend, too.

The London Central Workshop was a brilliant ideas, unfortunately, telling mechanics they will get bonuses if they meet a quota amount of service per day was not the best plan*, this mean that the quality of service will be lower just to make the bonuses to cover for the working at almost minimum wages in London, thus bike aren't as clean as they should be, part haven't been replaced, just lubricated and adjusted, etc.

*Some services may take longer , customer may not respond to quote promptly which result in a delay, ordering new part if they don't have it, etc.),

They also failed to grasp the point that workshops generally don't make as much money as selling bikes.

Well the workshop could make more money, like for instance, maybe actually charging customer for new inner cables when quoting their bike for a service, small stuff like that go a long way.

They also failed to grasp the point that workshops generally don't make as much money as selling bikes.

I thought it was the other way around?

Small margins on bikes v larger margins on parts plus charging £££ for labour that costs ££ or £ in wages.

£1,000 bike = £500 profit (60 minutes)

£60 service = £60 profit (90 minutes)

(this is simplified, as I didn't account for VAT and such).

Or the low wages of the underpaid mechanic. Or were wages so bad they don’t actually pay them?

50% profit on the bike, 100% on the service but I know what you’re saying.

Also though, I guess Evans has considerable buying power so £500 as a cost price for a £1k bike might be realistic, in the small lbs I worked in I’d say £750-800 for a £1k bike was more likely.

The London Central Workshop was a brilliant idea

Interesting, why do you think so?

My experience with Evans:
Took my bike for a service at Evans Chalk Farm, I tried to explain to them the problems my bike had and needed extra attention, I asked them to strip the bike fully to clean rusty parts (they didn't), I tried to explain to them that I could not figure out the strange noise that started coming out of the bike and to try to investigate to fix it (ongoing creaky noise for over 6 months) and they were looking at me as if I was crazy talking nonsense, instead of saying "yes we'll look at that" (ends up being the second hand shimano M53 pedal that needed repair which they never checked, I figured it out later on my own) and most annoyingly, when I picked up the bike and asked them to describe what was wrong with the bike and what was fixed/repaired (asking for a simple report on the service) their only response was repeatedly "it's all fine", as if women don't know how to talk mechanics (mind you, I'm an engineer).. I felt really horrible with the whole attitude.
Result: The London Bike Kitchen did a mint job for less and Tim was excellent in explaining to me of what to be mindful of on my next service and how much life is left on some critical parts. Sorry if you work at Evans...but I only buy heavily discounted things on sale online from there now...for what it's worth.

Because it streamlined the service, allow the shop to concentrate on building new bicycles and doing smaller on the spot jobs, it also mean the waiting time for the next availability for an overhaul service is much shorter due to both more mechanic in LCW, and if requested, get it done in stores, which can be done sooner also.

More parts can be stored in LCW that may not be possible in shops, some shop are smaller than other which mean less specialised part.

Stuff like that, it’s jusr pooriy thought out.

You’re right, they do have more buying power this able to offer bigger discounts if necessary, hence why they’re lax when it come to says, fitting new cables in bicycle for free during a service, it’s actually up to the stores rather than HO, which is odd.

50% profit on the bike, 100% on the service but I know what you’re saying.

Yeah, selling threes bicycles usually enough to meet daily target whether workshop need all days to barely hit that.

Cheers, Ed. All makes sense. Are you saying that small jobs could still be done in the local Evans and only bigger jobs went to the LCW?

Out of interest, at what time of day did the van(s) go round to drive bikes to the LCW?

It's great that you've found a good mechanic that is able to do the work and talk to you in a professional way.

Your story rings true to my ears. I've had so many problems getting proper service from bike shops. A long list of stories. I hate to say it but I think a lot of it comes down to sexism. I do all my own mechanics now. Not everyone has the luxury of time to learn properly how to do things.

I'm an engineer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IGVxBb5uYk

@Oliver Schick hahahahahaha!!!
That's me! (without the kids!)😂😂😂

Fantastic. Saved on my current spotify playlist.

Evans employees aren't a collective hive mind, so no need to apologise as no one will try to defend the company to their last breath.
Your story echoes one of the fundamental issues each store had. Staff retention. Shit, I think I went through 4 store managers in my time.
Staff not appreciated = Staff that don't have much to lose = staff that don't really give a shit about the customer.
This isn't an Evans thing only, it's endemic to most of the Retail/Service Industry.