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JJB Sports plc was a British
sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...
retailer Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesal ...
. On 24 September 2012, shares in JJB Sports were suspended, and the firm called in administrators. On 1 October 2012, it was announced that
Sports Direct Sportsdirect.com Retail Limited, trading as Sports Direct, is a British retail company owned by Frasers Group. The company was founded in 1982 by Mike Ashley (businessman), Mike Ashley and was originally based in Maidenhead, England. It specialises ...
had purchased part of the business, including 20 stores, the brand, and its website for £28.3 million.


Corporate history

The original JJB sportshop was founded in the beginning of the 1900s. It was expanded and incorporated in 1971, when ex footballer and supermarket chain operator
Dave Whelan David Whelan (born 24 November 1936) is an English businessman and former Association football, footballer. During his football career, he played for Blackburn Rovers F.C., Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra F.C., Crewe Alexandra. Whelan is ...
acquired a single sports shop in
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
, and immediately opened a second sports goods outlet in his supermarket in
Sutton, St Helens Sutton is an area of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, in Merseyside, England, and a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, metropolitan borough of the same name. The population of the ward taken at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 ...
. The original JJB sports store was established by John Jarvis Broughton in the beginning of the 1900s, and later was purchased by John Bradburn in1948. As the business was known locally as JJB's, Bradburn retained the name, as did Whelan when he bought the shop from Bradburn. During the beginning of the 1990s, the store portfolio grew to stores totalling 120 by 1994, at which point the company was floated on the
London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
. In July 1998, JJB bought its largest domestic competitor Sports Division. The acquisition made JJB one of the largest sports retailers in the United Kingdom, focusing on sports clothing rather than sports equipment. JJB had got to a sales total of £372.97 million (US$636.60 million) in 1999. In July 2002, it had also opened a new branch in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
. In October 2002, Duncan Sharpe, chief executive of JJB Sports, committed suicide. Mr Sharpe had been with the company for nineteen years, and was the son in law of the chairman, Dave Whelan. By 2005, JJB had expanded to stores over 430 throughout the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. On 8 June 2007, Mr Whelan sold his residual 29% stake in the firm for £190 million to
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
ic financial group Exista and Chris Ronnie, a sports retailer who previously worked at
Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are sold in over 100 c ...
and
Sports Direct Sportsdirect.com Retail Limited, trading as Sports Direct, is a British retail company owned by Frasers Group. The company was founded in 1982 by Mike Ashley (businessman), Mike Ashley and was originally based in Maidenhead, England. It specialises ...
. On 19 October 2007, JJB bought a stake of 10.1% in
Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are sold in over 100 c ...
, in an move to protect its stake in the market for shirts of
England Football Association football, Football is the most popular sport in England. Widely regarded as the birthplace of modern football, the first official rules of the game were established in England in 1863. The country is home to the world's first footba ...
. This stake was sold in its entirety to
Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...
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 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, which included a warning from the auditors raising doubts over JJB's future as a going concern. 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. This was from debts owed by JJB to their suppliers. Three weeks later, a 34% share was purchased by
Sports Direct Sportsdirect.com Retail Limited, trading as Sports Direct, is a British retail company owned by Frasers Group. The company was founded in 1982 by Mike Ashley (businessman), Mike Ashley and was originally based in Maidenhead, England. It specialises ...
. On 10 February 2009, JJB put their ''Qube'' and ''Original Shoe Company'' subsidiaries into administration, after failing to find a buyer. By the end of the week, the group secured a reprieve from its bankers to avoid putting the whole group into administration.JJB wins stay of execution as Stylo folds
''The Independent'', 14 February 2009
On 13 October 2009, JJB admitted that former executives were being investigated by both
HM Revenue & Customs His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the UK government responsible for the tax collectio ...
and the
Serious Organised Crime Agency The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) was a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom which existed from 1 April 2006 until 7 October 2013. SOCA was a national law enforcement agency with Home Office sponsorship, e ...
.Organised crime bureau probes ex-JJB directors
''The Times'', 14 October 2009


2011: Major Restructuring Plan

JJB was one of many companies that had undergone major restructuring and change due to the recession and faced a £31.5 million debt, the closure of 95 stores and a possible hostile takeover by one of its top rivals,
JD Sports JD Sports Fashion plc, commonly known as JD Sports, JD or JD Group is a British multinational sports-fashion retail company based in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 10 ...
, as of February 2011. The firm attempted to raise £65 million in finances from its investors on 7 April 2011. In February 2011, JJB revealed that as many as 95 of its stores faced closure within the next two years, and had asked for emergency £31.5m funding on 11 December 2011.


Administration

The combined market value of JJB Sports' shares had totaled £500 million in 2010, but had unpredictably collapsed to only £1.2 million by September 2012. On 24 September 2012, it was reported by the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
that shares in JJB Sports had been suspended, and that the firm was calling in the administrators. It was expected that many of the firm’s 180 stores would close, and most of the company's 4,000 employees would be made redundant. It was reported that the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...
was to lose millions of dollars from this outcome, following its investment in JJB Sports in 2009. On 1 October 2012, it was announced that rival retailer
Sports Direct Sportsdirect.com Retail Limited, trading as Sports Direct, is a British retail company owned by Frasers Group. The company was founded in 1982 by Mike Ashley (businessman), Mike Ashley and was originally based in Maidenhead, England. It specialises ...
had purchased the 'JJB' brand name, website and 20 stores, saving around 550 jobs. However, the remaining 160 stores were to close, resulting in 2,200 redundancies. JJB Sports was officially dissolved, with debts of £150 million on 9 November 2012. There were a total of 5,000 employees at its closure.


Legal issues

On 13 October 2009, JJB admitted that former executives were being investigated by both
HM Revenue & Customs His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the UK government responsible for the tax collectio ...
and the
Serious Organised Crime Agency The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) was a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom which existed from 1 April 2006 until 7 October 2013. SOCA was a national law enforcement agency with Home Office sponsorship, e ...
. The former boss of both Next and JJB Sports, Sir David Jones, was charged in February 2013, over allegations of forgery and making misleading statements to the market while he was executive chairman of JJB Sports, concerning an earlier £150 million loan. Jones helped to turn the clothes retailer Next into one of Britain's largest retailers.


Brands

In an effort to distance themselves from the majority "own branded" offering of main competitor Sports Direct, JJB's stock package mainly comprised products from the main sportswear suppliers, such as
Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...
,
Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...
, Puma, and
Reebok Reebok International Limited ( ) is an American footwear and clothing brand that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company which had bee ...
. However, JJB did operate its own brands, including 'Patrick' (menswear and football accessories), and 'Olympus' (womenswear and fitness accessories).


Marketing

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 David Whelan (born 24 November 1936) is an English businessman and former Association football, footballer. During his football career, he played for Blackburn Rovers F.C., Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra F.C., Crewe Alexandra. Whelan is ...
, but his 99% stake was sold off. JJB no longer operated the famous "Soccerdomes", nor any gyms or Fitness Clubs outside
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. Also, because of Dave Whelan's purchase of the Fitness Club, and founding of
DW Sports Fitness DW Sports Fitness was a British retailing and fitness business, founded as a result of Dave Whelan's purchase of 50 JJB Sports fitness clubs with attached retail stores for £83.4 million in March 2009. The business would later encompass more t ...
in September 2009, JJB has lost its association with
Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...
FC and
Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...
RLFC. The stadium previously sponsored by the company has since been renamed the DW Sports Stadium, later the
Brick Community Stadium The Brick Community Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Robin Park in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is used by Wigan Warriors rugby league club and Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic association football, football club. The stadium is ...
. On 7 September 2011, JJB Sports launched a new major marketing campaign entitled "Ready?". The campaign involves prime time television advertising, national press coverage, in store promotions, and online competitions. The ''Ready'' campaign was JJB Sport's first appearance on television for over four years, and represented the company's desire to become profitable again.


Price fixing

In May 2005, JJB Sports were fined £8.3 million, by the
Office of Fair Trading The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economi ...
(OFT), for fixing the price of England and Manchester United shirts in 2000 and 2001. ''
Which? ''Which?'' is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights, and offering indepen ...
'' 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.


Fitness clubs

The business operated approximately sixty health & fitness centres all over the United Kingdom, which became property of
DW Sports Fitness DW Sports Fitness was a British retailing and fitness business, founded as a result of Dave Whelan's purchase of 50 JJB Sports fitness clubs with attached retail stores for £83.4 million in March 2009. The business would later encompass more t ...
after Dave Whelan's departure from JJB. JJB also ran health and fitness centres in the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
, which are now operated by Sports Direct, following the liquidation of the company.Britain’s Sports Direct to buy 60 JJB Sports stores
''The Independent''


Sponsorships

JJB Sports provided
naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...
for the now
Brick Community Stadium The Brick Community Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Robin Park in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is used by Wigan Warriors rugby league club and Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic association football, football club. The stadium is ...
, a
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
and
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
stadium in
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
.
Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...
and
Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...
have played their home games at the stadium since 1999. Other sponsorships include: *
Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...
''(JJB Sports Irish Cup)'' *
Oceânico Group Pro-Am Challenge The Oceânico Group Pro-Am Challenge was a golf tournament on the Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour, currently titled as the HotelPlanner Tour for sponsorship reasons and also sometimes referred to as the European Challenge Tour, is the second ...
''(JJB Sports North West Challenge)'' *PowerLeague SoccerDome ''(JJB Sports SoccerDome)'' *
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
''(JJB Sports Super League)''


References


External links


JJB Sports OnlineJJB CorporateJJB Golf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jjb Sports Clothing retailers of the United Kingdom Companies based in Wigan British companies established in 1971 Retail companies established in 1971 British companies disestablished in 2012 Retail companies disestablished in 2012 Price fixing convictions Sporting goods retailers of the United Kingdom Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom