A great catch for listed fishing equipment retailer

A fishing tackle retailer with a base in Leeds has been bought by listed business Angling Direct for £1.10m.

Erics Angling Centre has two stores – its Leeds premises which has been operating for 28 years, and a store at Farlows Lake in Buckinghamshire.

The Leeds business will be migrated over to Angling Direct’s new destination store at City South Retail Park, less than four miles away.

The online and mail order operations, which represented about 30% of Erics’ £5.2m revenues in 2018 and are based in Leeds, will be closed and integrated with Angling Direct’s online retail and distribution operations in Norfolk.

Angling Direct’s directors say they believe the acquisition will accelerate the progress of their new Leeds store, reducing the expected pay-back period by consolidating the local retail offering.

The Farlows Lake store will be re-branded Angling Direct and re-stocked. Following the integration of Erics, Angling Direct will have 31 outlets in England. 

Darren Bailey, CEO of Angling Direct, said: “Erics Angling is a premium business, providing thousands of regular customers with a high standard of service.

“We look forward to welcoming these customers to Angling Direct and introducing them to the high-quality and broad range of our products and services.

“Angling has for some time been in the top three participation sports in the UK. Our strategy is to consolidate this highly fragmented market, delivering economies of scale and broadening our access to new customers through an increased retail footprint.

“We aim to deliver strong returns to shareholders by engaging actively with our customers and providing the best value, products and service in the market.”

Angling Direct is the largest specialist fishing tackle retailer in the UK. The company sells over 21,500 fishing tackle products, including capital items, consumables, luggage and clothing.

It also owns and sells fishing tackle products under its own brand ‘Advanta’, which was launched in 2016.

Steve Blow, of Erics Angling, added: “It gives me great comfort to hand over the business, which I have assisted in building over the last 30 years, to Angling Direct.

“Whilst continuing to provide industry-leading products and excellent, reliable service, I believe Angling Direct will further enhance our customers’ retail experience. It has everything an angler could ask for, be it online or in-store.

“Thank you to all our customers for the support you have shown over the years both in-store and online.”