Orro and i-ride brands acquired by Planet-X owner but 'staff made redundant'

Staff at British retailer i-ride and its bike brand Orro have been made redundant, with parent company Martlet Group "effectively liquidated", says its administrator FRP Advisory, despite the brands being saved.

Orro Bikes has been acquired by Baaj Capital investment company Baaj Capital LLP. It has also bought the i-ride name and all stock, says FRP. I-ride entered administration earlier this year.

"I-ride and Orro are the brands that that sit within the Martlet Group, the company that went into administration," FRP's Philip Armstrong told Cycling Weekly.

"We were hoping to achieve a going concern sale but that fell through, unfortunately. So effectively, the company has been liquidated. The two brand names have been acquired by Baaj, and they've acquired the stock," he added.

The British bike brand, based in Sussex, was i-ride's jewel in the crown, a popular brand producing a range of road and gravel machines.

It means Orro will now reside in the same stable as Planet-X, the British retailer that was bought by Baaj Capital-funded firm Winlong Garments in June last year, after looking as though it was bound for administration.

In a press release Baaj Capital said it was "dedicated to preserving Orro Bikes’ rich heritage and continuing its tradition of producing world-class bicycles".

It also said it would "invest in research and development to introduce cutting-edge technologies and innovative designs to the Orro Bikes product line".

An Orro source said that the bike brand was set to continue where it left off once everything was all set up and ready in a few weeks' time.

He also said that the website would probably be ready to go by the middle of next week and that the company would have Sussex premises and phone lines within a few weeks.

Paul Butler of Orro Bikes is "delighted to be working with the Baaj Capital group to secure Orro’s future as a leading British bicycle manufacturer and is excited to continue the brands growth and development. We look forward to strengthening our partnerships with our IBD network".

Orro was launched in 2014 by i-ride with the remit of producing quality bikes for everyday riding, with two carbon-fibre models, the Gold and the Oxygen.

More recently the Orro range has welcomed the Venturi STC – a carbon aero road bike – and the Terra, a well-regarded gravel machine.

The cycling industry's overstock problems were created during the Covid lockdowns when cycling became ultra-popular and bikes and components became near impossible to come by. Industry players up and down the supply chain put in big orders in anticipation of a years-long boom that never materialised.

The current industry slogan is 'survive to 25', in the hope that by next year much of the surplus stock will finally have been sold, and some sort of equilibrium can be restored.