'Almost all' Evans Cycles stores profitable ahead of Mike Ashley closures

Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley announced the closure of half of Evans Cycles’ stores despite the advice by administrators that “almost all the stores were profitable,” according to the Telegraph.

The administrators’ proposals document obtained by the UK newspaper showed that administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) decided that while almost all the stores were still profitable, the decision to close them was made because the company was “burdened” by fixed costs at its head office.

The announcement that 31 of Evans Cycles’ 62 stores would be closed - potentially leading to 400 job losses - came shortly after the company was bought out of administration by Ashley for 8 million pounds in October.