George White goes into administration

[topgun44]

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/n...istration/ :'( :'( :'(

[adeejaysdelight]

MCN? Is it trustworthy...?

http://www.georgewhite.co.uk/

Maybe, the website is down.

What a shame

[Skippernick]

its true they're gone.
if you expand that quickly its inevietable

[Fazerjon]

what about the London branch, Shoreditch i think it is??  :eek

[Silverdream]

oooh Goody... liquidation sale soon... time to grab some bargains....  :lol


(sorry for those who have lost their jobs though) my brother inlaw got made redundant today... bad news all round

[pitternator]

shocking news....but in so many ways predictable given the stupid price of todays bikes....the manufacturers are pricing themselves out of business.

[fazer390]

I knew they were having problems for a while. Personally a real shame to see this big name and social meeting point go bust.
Hopfully someone will buy them out or something and the staff re-employed...

In the mean time Fowlers it is...

[Strifae]

I am more shocked fowlups hasn't gone bust if I am honest

[Major Rant]

Whenever I ride past them I always wonder, "How can you possibly hold that much stock, and still be competitive?"
(They had 3-400 bikes in there at £4K a pop equals a £1.6M bank-loan)
Same question I used to ask at Borders, the bookshop that went bust.

Well, now I know the answer.

[VNA]

but in so many ways predictable given the stupid price of todays bikes....the manufacturers are pricing themselves out of business.

It's called the exchange rate.  The pound has plummeted.

[fazed600]

I'm not entirely suprised about fowlups. I used to work nearby and wondered how they made any money I used to pop in every few months to look at the same stock of second hand bikes clogging up the showroom. Then again if you buy any parts you know how they are making the cash. I heard that they are largest parts importer in Europe (their warehouse is huge) and they supply a lot of the trade. Guessing that as they have been around for ages they won't have as much debt in the business as other shops as well.

Can't stand being ripped off by them though.....

[pitternator]

if its all exchange rate...why are jap cars not priced out of the market ?

yam managed to do a quite big price reduction this year ...so that throws that argument out for a start.Personally I think its actually pro active marketing , since the recession has killed the mass market ...target the smaller but still cash rich market for quality / niche bikes...bikes like the tenere, ducati diavel for example. All sold out. Gixers by contrast have sold very poorly. Its why so many are in the adventure bike market ...its where the money is...affluent folk who dont " feel the need for speed" so much as touring, the big adventure trip.... or even dare I say it ..posing as such !      I mean just who can afford 14 k bikes for a toy these days.Pricing bikes at this level  can only be crass stupidity ...or the realisation that the market has shrunk, and units are priced to make profit at much smaller volumes. Its not necessarily exchange rate.If they had sales volume they could get round that.
Hence the lack of real development for sportsbikes, and hefty prices, since they dont expect to sell many.I call it the " marks and spencer " approach.

I dont know why a company like george white has gone under, but usually its the classic collapse of sales...followed by trying everything to recover market share, diversify etc...but ultimately jap bikes just dont sell in enuff quantity now to turn the margin / profit needed to run such a big business with commensurate overheads.Soon the costs of the business take over, debt rises, and the end is nigh...In a very odd way, jap manufacturers  are almost following the doomed course the british bike market did in the 70s...sticking to a declining market instead of innovating their way out of it...

With GW gone...likelihood of big dealers offering good bike prices are even more remote.Manufacturers will call the shots...and we either pay asking price or " sir is free to leave if he wishes"....end result is a very small bike market but with at least machines selling at a profit. We as consumers suffer...

[pete786.u]

Went past Allins/Hallens in Cambridge the other day and noticed their shop is empty, don`t know if they have shut down or moved to another location. So nearest bike shop is now Letchworth (apart from a Royal Enfield, Scooter and Moped shop)

[locksmith]

Also, peeps using the internet for stuff is killing the dealers as well.

How many of us have a look at stuff in a shop and then see how much it is online?

[HarryHornby]

How many of us have a look at stuff in a shop and then see how much it is online?

Guilty as charged!

[Fazerjon]

Well in todays current financial climate, its common sense to use the internet, I'm afraid its every man for himself. (Well it is for me anyway!) :lol

[Philk]

Sad sad news, real sorry for those out of jobs!

Yes i'm an internet hussey.... but quite a few times i ended up on GWs online shop because the Swindon store was 2 hrs away for me.

Less competition means less bargains and if i can't get the stuff at an affordable price then i dont get it at all so nobody wins :\

[martynR]

Also, peeps using the internet for stuff is killing the dealers as well.

How many of us have a look at stuff in a shop and then see how much it is online?

Because money don't grow on trees? The dealers are a rip off!