Cotswold Outdoor

British retail chain

Outdoor and Cycle Concepts Ltd

Trade name

| Cotswold Outdoor
Formerly|

* Oval (1200) Limited (June–July 1997)[1]
* Cotswold Outdoor Limited (1997–2015)[1]

Company type| Private
Industry| Retailer
Founded| 1974
Headquarters| Crudwell,

Malmesbury

United Kingdom

Area served

| UK
Products| Outdoor Clothing and Equipment
Owner| PAI Partners

Number of employees

| circa 1200
Parent| Retail Concepts N.V
Website| cotswoldoutdoor.com
Cotswold Outdoor, Southside Wandsworth, London

Outdoor and Cycle Concepts Ltd,[1] trading as Cotswold Outdoor, is an outdoor recreation retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is a trading brand of Outdoor and Cycle Concepts Limited, who also own the Snow and Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need chains of shops.[2]

## History

[edit]

Founded in 1974, the company originated in the Cotswolds, and was based in a garage next to the Cotswold Water Park from which the founders sold basic camping accessories. Cotswold Outdoor is the recommended retailer for the National Trust and the Ramblers. Cotswold Outdoor has 79 shops[3] across the United Kingdom, an e-commerce website and a mail order service selling outdoor clothing, camping and climbing equipment, travel clothing and hiking boots.

On 26 April 2019, Outdoor and Cycle Concepts Limited applied for a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) following increased pre-tax losses in a struggling UK retail environment.

Greg Nieuwenhuys resigned as chief executive in March 2019, and was succeeded by Jose Ramon Finch Castro, who joined the board as managing director the following month.[4]

In June 2025, Cotsworld Outdoor Group partnered with Zitcha to launch the Cotsworld Outdoor Group Media Portal, a retail media network integrating in-store digital screens, website banners, sponsored product placements, and off-site campaigns on platforms such as Meta and YouTube.[5]

## Subsidiaries

[edit]

Snow and Rock is a chain of skiing and mountaineering shops.[6] It was founded in the early 1980s by Mike Browne, who borrowed £60,000 from the bank using his house as collateral.[7] Browne opened its first shop on Kensington High Street in London.[7] By 2001, there were eight Snow and Rock shops that collectively had net sales of £22 million per year.[7] In 2004, Andrew Brownsword acquired the firm, which then had 11 UK shops,[8] and Browne left the company.[8]

In 2010, Brownsword sold the firm to LGV Capital, Legal & General's private equity subsidiary.[9] At the time of the acquisition Snowit had 35 shops, employed 450, had £65 million in revenue the previous year, and owned Cycle Surgery and Runners Need.[9][10] In 2015, the PAI Partners-owned AS Adventure Group, which owns Cotswold Outdoor, acquired Snow and Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need, which at the time had 46 shops [2] In November 2015, Cotswold Outdoor, Snow and Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need became "one single legal entity called Outdoor and Cycle Concepts".[11]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Outdoor And Cycle Concepts Ltd overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. 1997-06-06. Retrieved 2025-01-01.
2. ^ a b Wilmore, James (2015-06-01). "Snow & Rock Group sold to Cotswold Outdoor owner AS Adventure Group". Retail Week. Archived from the original on 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
3. ^ Wilmore, James (1 June 2015). "Snow & Rock Group sold to Cotswold Outdoor owner AS Adventure Group". Retail Weekly. EMAP Publishing Limited. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
4. ^ "Creditors approve Cotswold Outdoor owner's CVA". 14 May 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
5. ^ Iacovcich, Silvia (2025-03-06). "Cotswold Outdoor launches retail network with new partnership". Retail Systems. Retrieved 2025-06-08.
6. ^ Wheatley, Kevin (2001-06-10). "Paralysed sailor takes on oceans by remote control". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 2020-06-27. Retrieved 2020-06-27 – via Gale.
7. ^ a b c Swinfield, John (2001-08-03). "Sporting daredevil beats the odds; Breaking Through". The London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2020-06-28 – via Gale.
8. ^ a b Urquhart, Lisa (2004-07-09). "Entrepreneur buys Snow and Rock". Financial Times. ProQuest 249431700.
9. ^ a b Arnold, Martin (2010-09-14). "Snow & Rock plots expansion after buy-out". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
10. ^ MacDonald, George (2010-09-14). "Snow+Rock sold to management". Retail Week. Archived from the original on 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
11. ^ "Cotswold Outdoor and Snow & Rock Group announce new company name". The Retain Bulletin. 2015-11-20. Archived from the original on 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2020-06-28.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website