News

British outdoors and camping specialist retailer Simply Hike has been acquired by the Astbury Collection Group in a move described as “an opportunity too good not to miss”.

Astbury Collection, which already owns Evercreatures and Rainmac, believes Simply Hike will complement its portfolio and is already proactively working with new suppliers and brands to add new stock. It also plans to Simply Hike into an entirely online retailer and will be hiring new staff as part of a wider review of the business. 

Astbury Collections director Tony Bailey (pictured above) said: “The opportunity to add Simply Hike to our portfolio of businesses was too good to miss.

“With Evercreatures having been a supplier to Simply Hike, I knew the business well. It has a lot of potential, even in a competitive sector, as at its peak it had a turnover of £3.5m per year. It is a strong retail brand, has an excellent reputation amongst the sector and superb customer loyalty, with good traction on social media. Simply Hike’s reviews and tips are amongst its most popular features and this will be something we will be continuing.

“The business is not without its challenges, particularly rebuilding in the current climate, but the reaction from suppliers and customers has been extremely positive.”

Astbury Collections will be utilising the UK Government’s Kickstarter scheme to help provide opportunities to young people to get back into the workplace and is actively seeking new staff for its warehouse, customer service, sales and marketing teams.