Sports Direct buys hockey and cricket retailer

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jul 16, 2018

Sports Direct has added a hockey and cricketing goods brand to its portfolio after buying specialist retailer Barrington Sports out of administration.

The transaction was done through Lovell Sports, an arm of Sports Direct, according to documents submitted to Companies House.

Lovell, an online rugby retailer, paid administrators FRP Advisory £261,000 for Barrington, the trading name of Northgame Limited, plus £80,000 to occupy its premises in Cheshire.

Barrington was founded in 1982 as an independent family business run by Barry Dolby. In 2012, it opened a new 25,000 sq ft site in Knutsford, as well as a 5,000 sq ft showroom with several areas dedicated to its range of sports including hockey, cricket, rugby, netball and running.

The business appointed FRP Advisory in April to help it find a buyer after experiencing ‘trading difficulties’ in the recent financial period, including adverse exchange rates.

Its sale to Sports Direct is likely to leave creditors including the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the England and Wales Cricket Board, England Hockey, and the All England Netball Association out of pocket, The Telegraph reported.

Barrington owns a total of £1.6m to unsecured creditors.