{"id":695869,"date":"2026-07-17T01:55:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T01:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/695869\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T01:55:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T01:55:18","slug":"saddleback-administration-millions-in-dividends-pennies-for-creditors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/695869\/","title":{"rendered":"Saddleback administration: Millions in dividends, pennies for creditors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Saddleback<\/p>\n

Industry<\/a><\/p>\n

Saddleback, the major UK cycling distributor that entered administration in May 2026, was in deeper financial trouble than previously known, newly filed documents reveal.<\/p>\n

\"Suvi<\/p>\n

Saddleback, the major UK cycling distributor that entered administration on 29 May 2026, had a more complicated last few years than previously known. New public filings and accounts from former employees show the owners taking dividends out of the business even as it took on large bank loans and built up debts to more than 150 creditors, many of whom now face being left out of pocket.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

UK distributor Saddleback collapses into administration<\/p>\n

After more than 20 years in business, the distributor of major brands including Castelli, Chris King, Sportful and Silca has shut its doors and laid off all staff.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The documents, published at Companies House, are from FRP Advisory \u2013 the firm that also handled the administrations of kids’ bike brand Frog Bikes, Le Col<\/a>, and earlier Wiggle\/Chain Reaction Cycles. <\/p>\n

FRP explains the 29 May 2026 administration happened due to several factors. First was Saddleback’s loss of the Enve and Cannondale contracts, in February and March 2026 respectively \u2014 two brand deals that together accounted for around 60% of the distributor’s turnover. The company also struggled with cash flow, driven by industry-wide overstocking linked to the pandemic, Brexit and a run of rival collapses.<\/p>\n

Sinking ship<\/p>\n

Before the administration, Saddleback had been operating for 22 years and built a strong reputation distributing major brands, but in the years following the bike boom during the COVID-19 pandemic, broader industry headwinds increasingly weighed on the company.<\/p>\n

FRP was brought in during January 2026 to review the situation. It decided there were two options for the company to keep going: merge or sell the business.<\/p>\n

This post is for paying subscribers only
\n Subscribe now<\/a><\/p>\n

Already have an account? Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n

Did we do a good job with this story?<\/p>\n

\n \ud83d\udc4dYep
\n \ud83d\udc4eNope\n <\/p>\n

\n Industry<\/a>
\n Tech news<\/a>
\n Tech<\/a>
\n Saddleback<\/a>
\n Administration<\/a>
\n Silca<\/a>
\n Castelli<\/a>
\n Wolf Tooth Components<\/a>
\n Chris King<\/a>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Industry Saddleback, the major UK cycling distributor that entered administration in May 2026, was in deeper financial trouble…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-695869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}