SuperBike Factory on the brink of administration despite £83m turnover
SuperBike Factory has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, despite reporting £83 million in turnover. Here's what it means for riders and the wider motorcycle industry.
Just a few years ago, SuperBike Factory looked almost untouchable. The Macclesfield-based retailer had grown from a single showroom into Europe's largest used motorcycle dealer, shifting around 15,000 bikes a year and opening sites across the UK. Now, it's fighting for survival, after reports suggest it is on the brink of calling in the administrators.
The company has filed a Notice of Intention (NOI) to appoint administrators, a legal move that protects it from creditor action while it looks for a way forward. It doesn't mean the business has entered administration at this time, although it is a sign that the company is under significant financial pressure.
The move comes despite SuperBike Factory reporting turnover of around £83 million in its most recent published accounts, alongside a pre-tax profit of £8.5 million. Those same accounts, however, warned that the business faced growing uncertainty around the availability of motor finance following the ongoing legal fallout surrounding discretionary commission arrangements. Rising living costs and weaker consumer confidence were also highlighted as risks to future trading.
SuperBike Factory has become one of the biggest success stories in UK motorcycle retail since it was founded in 2010 by Scott Behrens and James Watson. Its model was simple enough. Buy bikes at scale through channels including WeBuyAnyBike.com, prepare them centrally and sell them nationwide through large destination showrooms backed up by online sales.
Expansion came quickly. Donington Park joined the original Macclesfield headquarters in 2021, followed by the acquisition of Ritebike in Bradford, before new sites opened in Bristol, Milton Keynes and, most recently, Crawley earlier this year.
If administrators are eventually appointed, SuperBike Factory would become the latest high-profile name to fall in a motorcycle industry that has had a difficult couple of years. Completely Motorbikes collapsed in 2024, while both Mutt Motorcycles and CCM entered administration during 2025.
The wider market has been under pressure too. New motorcycle registrations dropped sharply last year after Euro5+ emissions rules distorted buying patterns, while higher borrowing costs and weaker consumer spending have made both new and used bike sales harder work than they were during the post-pandemic boom.
For now, it's important not to confuse an NOI with administration itself. The filing gives the company time to negotiate with lenders, investors or potential buyers without creditors taking immediate action. Some businesses emerge successfully from that process, although many ultimately do not.
Images: SuperBike Factory
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
