Woodworm Bats Have Gone

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

I posted a few weeks ago about Woodworm being in trouble. I'm now reading in The Telegraph and The Argus too that they are no longer trading and that no one will speak to the press. KP and Freddie have new bat sponsors and the website has closed. Shame - they tried to rejuvenate the cricket bat market.

I have spoken with Willostix (www.willostix.co.uk) who are a Kent bat maker who don't sponsor Test players so they can keep their prices down on very nice bits of willow. They've been told that KP and Freddie may have been on over a £1m each.

I know that there are a few cricketers on here so I spoke to Willostix. They have told me that if you phone them up with an order before the end of 2008 and say that "North Stand Chat" sent you, they'll give you 5% off your order.

I also know that there are some decent 3 for 2 Christmas Bundles coming along - so worth signing up for their newsletter.

[And no - I don't work for them - I just know them from my local. Nice guys - great bats - very knowledgeable - and the only online company I know who actually encourage you to phone up rather than hiding the phone number!! Hope Bozza doesn't mind the plug for them]

 

[Don Tmatter]

Weren't Freddie something to do with Woodworm, a director/partner or something?

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Don't think so - the deal as I understand it was £1m to buy their bat use for their playing career. So to that extent he was locked in - but not part of it. It was one guy plus a load of city types. Didn't even make the bats themselves - just labelled them up and flogged them. The point the Willostix lads made was that if that was the deal, they were carrying at least £2m just to sponsor two professional batsmen before they even started looking at other costs. And the UK cricket bat market is just not that big - it looks like they over extended and the crunch (along with a wet Summer) may have been enough to do for them.

Shame to see any business go under - but they were not good bats, just good merchandising and branding.

 

[clarkey]

Shit, I know one of the co-founders and my club, Eastbourne, was sponsored by them.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Can you find out anything about it Clarkey - apparently they are not even answering the phone.

 

[Seagull over NZ]

KP appears to have an Adidas bat in the Stanford series. Could be part of the gimmick of having a black bat but everyone else seems to have their normal bat sponsors.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Addidas have picked up KP - they already sponsor his boots I believe (did you notice!) and they are entering the cricket bat market in 2009 - so a good coup for them. There was a rumour that they were going to buy Woodworm in order to buy the deal with KP, but clearly didn't go ahead.

 

[Mendoza]

This was in the Argus last week


Woodworm forced to ditch Flintoff and KP
3:30pm Friday 24th October 2008

Comments (5) Have your say »

By Miles Godfrey »

A leading cricket bat manufacturer has been forced to ditch England’s star players after reportedly running into financial difficulties.

Woodworm has ended its lucrative deals to sponsor England captain Kevin Pietersen and all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.

The firm, which is based in Billingshurst, had both cricketers on lifetime deals, said to be worth £1 million a man.

Pietersen and Flintoff are credited with increasing sales of the company’s uniquely shaped bats 250% during the triumphant 2005 Ashes campaign.

But it has been forced to end the sponsorship after experiencing tough trading conditions in recent weeks.

Nobody at Woodworm was available for comment yesterday but a source told The Argus: “We understand they have been affected by the general situation with the economy.”

Chris Shambrook, the chairman of selectors at nearby Billingshurst Cricket Club, said: “We hope they are still going because they have been very good to our club in terms of sponsorship.

“I saw Joe Sillett, the Woodworm chief executive, driving up there today and waved. He seemed OK.”

Mr Sillett founded Woodworm in 2002 with Michael Hiard and David Brawn, both investment bankers.

Sales of its bats, which have a unique groove on the side and sell for between £25 and £200, rocketed from 200 a year to 15,000 in 2005, giving the business a 10% UK market share.

The firm also exported bats across the world.

Woodworm achieved even greater success in 2006 after Pietersen and Flintoff used its bats to great effect in the Ashes series of the previous summer.

But the firm is said to have struggled in recent weeks as people tighten their belts.

Pietersen has signed a new deal with Adidas while Flintoff is said to still be looking for a new sponsor.

Companies House shows that Woodworm’s latest accounts were due in August but have not yet been filed.

 

[METALMICKY]

Credit crunch maybe but supposedly Woodworm have a high ratr of bats returned to them for repair. Now granted if you pay top dollar for high grade soft willow bats they do ping but can break easily too.

I will be sticking with my trusty Newbery

 

[clarkey]

Can you find out anything about it Clarkey - apparently they are not even answering the phone.

I shall give it a go, Im not exactly that close to Mr Brawn, but I know a lot of people that are.

However, for those of you who are interested I can tell you that the unique grooves came about as one day one of the co founders went to his gargage to get his bat out, but discovered it had wordworm near the splice on one side. Therefore he cut out the otherside, did alright with it and he started the company. Factoid.

 

[lost in london]

Key stage 1 accountancy, but 15,000 (2005 turnover) x £200 (generous average price of bat) = £3,000,000.

Take the £2,000,000 to Freddie and KP off, and it doesn't leave very much, even if KP and FF were paid in installments, and that the £1m wasn't per year. And 2005 must have been their best year what with the Ashes and all.

I'm more into picking the bat out of the club bag the has got the best grip on it.

 

[Jesus Gul]

Do Sondico still do bats?

 

[Everest]

When I read the title, I was hoping that "woodworm bats" was the type of flying mammals found at Falmer that had a chance of having vehicle collisions, and had therefore decided to move on.