Sports Direct arm buys hockey and cricket retailer with the home of cricket and England Hockey left nursing losses | City A.M.
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct has pushed into the world of hockey and cricketing goods after buying a specialist retailer from administrators.
Lovell Sports, an arm of Sports Direct, bought Northgame Limited, which trades under the name of Barrington Sports, filings on Companies House show.
Barrington Sports is a retail partner for Lord’s Cricket Ground, England Cricket, England Hockey and England Netball, according to its website.
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The online retailer, which specialises in rugby, purchased Barrington for £261,000 from administrator FRP Advisory on 21 May 2018, alongside another £80,000 licence to occupy the firm’s premises.
The firm’s creditors include the guardian of the rules of cricket, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), as well as the England and Wales Cricket Board, England Hockey, and the All England Netball Association, the Sunday Telegraph first reported.
Barrington owes £1.6m to unsecured creditors, according to the administrators’ report. Creditors are unlikely to gain any money in return. England Hockey is owed £88,000 while the the MCC is owed £357,000.
The offer exceeded the other three for the firm’s business and assets, as well as another three were for assets only.
Barrington was established in 1982 by Barry Dolby in Goostrey, Cheshire. In 2012 the firm moved to a new 25,000 square foot consolidated site, according to its website.
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