| Type | Public limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1971 |
| Headquarters | Wigan, England, UK |
| Key people | Keith Jones (Executive chairman) David Williams (Chief Financial Officer, Executive Director) |
| Products | Clothing Sportswear Sports equipment |
| Operating income | £46.4 million |
| Net income | £34.6 million |
| Employees | 9,417 |
| Website | JJB Sports Online |
JJB Sports plc is a United Kingdom sports retailer. It currently operates 251 stores in the UK and Ireland.[1]
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The sportshop chain was founded in 1971, when ex-footballer Dave Whelan acquired a single sports shop in Wigan. The original store was established by JJ Broughton in the early 1900s and later was purchased by JJ Bradburn. As these initials were all the same the business was known locally as JJB's. When Whelan bought the store from Bradburn, he kept the JJB name.
During the early 1990s, the store portfolio grew to 120 stores by 1994, at which point the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange. In 1998, JJB bought its largest domestic competitor Sports Division. The acquisition made JJB one of the largest sports retailers in the UK, focusing on sports clothing rather than sports equipment.
Duncan Sharpe, chief executive of JJB sports, committed suicide in 2002. Mr Sharpe had been with JJB Sports for 19 years and was the son-in-law of the firm's founder Dave Whelan. By 2005, JJB had expanded to over 430 stores throughout the UK and Ireland. It had also opened a new branch in Amsterdam in 2002.
On 8 June 2007, Whelan sold his residual 29% stake in the firm for £190 million to Icelandic financial group Exista and Chris Ronnie, a sports retailer who previously worked at Umbro and Sports Direct.[2]
On 19 October 2007, JJB bought a 10.1% stake in Umbro in a move to protect its stake in the market for England football shirts.[3] This stake was sold in its entirety to Nike in March 2008.
In December 2007, JJB announced that they had purchased the Original Shoe Company for £5 Million. JJB considered converting some of the smaller JJB High Street stores stores into OSC stores, keeping OSC as a separate division of the JJB group which would share JJB's buying, financing and marketing functions.
In September 2008 JJB released a less than impressive set of interim results,[4] which included a warning from the auditors raising doubts over JJB's future as a going concern. This is due to a short term loan repayment of £20 million due before the end of 2008. It was noted that if this could not be repaid from normal trading cashflow then JJB will be advised to sell some (unspecified) non-core assets to cover the shortfall. JJB's net worth was only £28 million in the beginning of October 2008.
In October 2008 the value of JJB shares fell to less than 10% of the value at the time of Dave Whelan's share sale to Chris Ronnie and Exista. This was partly in response to the interim financial report and also as a result of Coface removing credit insurance from debts owed by JJB to their suppliers.[5] Three weeks later 34% (majority share) was purchased by Sports Direct International PLC. The fee is still to be reported.
On 10 February 2009, JJB put their Qube and Original Shoe Company subsidiaries into administration after failing to find a buyer.[6] By the end of the week the Group secured a reprieve from its bankers to avoid putting the whole group into administration.[1]
On 13 October 2009, JJB admitted that former executives were being investigated by both HM Revenue & Customs and the Serious Organised Crime Agency.[7]
JJB is one of many companies that has undergone major restructuring and change due to the recession[8] and now faces a £31,500,000 debt, the closure of 95 stores and a possible hostile takeover by one of its top rivals, JD Sports, as of February 2011.[9] The firm attempted to raise £65,000,000 in finances from its investors on April 7th, 2011[10].
Under JJB's current administration, and in an effort to distance themselves from the majority "own-branded" offering of main competitor Sports Direct, JJB's stock package mainly comprises product from the main sportswear suppliers: Nike, Adidas, Puma, and Reebok. Although they still stock own branded products such as Patrick (Menswear & Football Accessories), Olympus (Womenswear & Fitness Accessories, and Champion.
JJB Sports launched their shopping site, JJB Sports Store, with a view to expanding their market. The majority shareholder of JJB Sports Plc was Dave Whelan but his 99% stake was sold off.
JJB now no longer operates the famous "Soccerdomes", nor any gyms or Fitness Clubs outside of Ireland. Also, because of Dave Whelan's purchase of the Fitness Club and founding of DW (Dave Whelan) Sports in the autumn of 2009, JJB has lost its association with Wigan Athletic FC and Wigan Warriors RLFC. The stadium has also been renamed the DW Sports Stadium.
On 7th September 2011 JJB Sports launched a major new marketing campaign entitled "Ready?". The campaign involves prime time television advertising, national press coverage, in store promotions and online competitions. The Ready campaign is JJB Sport's first appearance on television for over 4 years and represents the company's push to become profitable again.
In 2003 JJB Sports were fined £8.3 million by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for fixing the price of England and Manchester United shirts in 2000 and 2001.[11] Which? consumer magazine issued proceedings against JJB Sports to sue the high street retailer for damages on behalf of consumers who were affected by the price fixing.[12] JJB may be fined a further £41.3 million for distorting the tennis racket market with its 'Slazenger' range in 2008.
JJB operated approximately 60 Health & Fitness Centres all over the UK.
JJB also operate health and fitness centres in the Republic of Ireland.