Yeomans Buys Gelert

Yeomans Buys Gelert

The camping and outdoor leisure brand Gelert has been bought by Jason Granite, who last year bought the Yeomans outdoor goods retail chain.

Granite originally made his name as a distressed debt trader at Deutsche Bank, and acquired Gelert for an undisclosed sum early in January.

Gelert had been in some difficulties after losing the contract with their biggest customer.

Gelert had sales of about £30m a year and supplied outdoor goods to retailers including Argos, Halfords and Tesco.

Granite expects the deal to bring synergies between the two businesses.

Yeomans bought in July

Granite bought the 82 store Yeomans chain in July last year and is intending to trade the business long-term.

In the past the retailers he has bought were frequently liquidated, including Envy and Faith Shoes.

However, Granite drafted in former Go Outdoors head of buying and merchandising Chris Boardman to strengthen the management soon after buying Yeomans, and is keen to develop a stable of outdoor brands.

The purchase of Gelert is a further step along that route.

Major Change in Outdoor Retail

Outdoor goods retail is going through a period of major change with Blacks also being sold to JD Sports.

Fast-growing businesses such as Go Outdoors have also become increasingly powerful in this category.