Bike industry turmoil continues as Forme bikes and Lake cycling shoes distributor enters liquidation

Shame, I was just admiring a Forme Monsal in a shop window the other day, with its brilliant 9/10 review on road.cc:
https://off.road.cc/content/review/bikes/2022-forme-monsal-1-review-9983

I can't help but feel that the classic distributor model is on borrowed time. Manufacturers commit their distribution chain to purchase x amount of products, which they are then forced to sell on to their dealer network. Dealers are left taking stock which ties up their credit lines, reducing their ability to move with the market. 

Then towards the end of each year, with manufacturers looking to offload another batch of gear to their distribution network, everyone down the chain is forced to sell off existing stock cheap, so no one in the chain apart from manufacturers make any profit.

It's not healthy business.

Post pandemic, I can see there being an acute problem for many distributors. When supply chains were disrupted, many distributors made hay... 'if you want stock, I need you to commit to x more units, or I'll need to give that stock to someone else'.

Great for the distributors, they sold loads! However, this has led to many retailers currently sitting on significantly greater amounts of stock than usual. So retailers aren't needing to spend with distributors so much, and even if they needed too, many have limited cash / credit to do so.  

And that's not even starting on current consumer reluctance to spend cash, coinciding with the greatest uplift in product pricing I can remember in my time. It's ugly.  

Shame to see this - although odd that the company was in "excellent shape" at the time of the MBO and then they're calling in the suits 10 months later. 

This is really sad to read. Moore Large was a supplier at my LBS when I was a weekend lad in the workshop. Built up countless Emmelle Cortinas and Dolomites back in the 90's...those things sold themselves.

People don't want to spend their hard earned cash on overpriced 'boutique' junk. They want something they know is good with high performance to match. Forme offered none of these

I was watching the cycling on Eurosport at the weekend and they are still broadcasting the Go daddy advert for creating a website for Look Mum no Hands!
I've been in shutdowns at well established companies as a contractor and it always has been saddest for the long term shopfloor employees on the payroll who are hit hardest.

Big brands will be snapped up by other distributors, in house brands like Forme and ETC will probably disappear along with Moore Large, unless administrators sell the business as a going concern. This is sad for all concerned, but also sign of how much current cost of living is hitting everybody

It's a shame to see Forme bikes go - the range was pretty good with some nice design touches and very much geared to Uk riders / conditions

Commisserations to the staff who have lost their jobs so unexpectedly - that's a terrible thing to experience.

Likewise the previous owners will be kicking themselves watching a business they spent decades building failing only 12 months later.