 Poster: A snowHead
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Snow+Rock, the chain of ski and sports shops founded by Mike Browne in 1982, is reported today to have been sold for an "undisclosed sum". The business went onto the market some months ago. The buyer is Andrew Brownsword, founder of Forever Friends greetings cards.
This report from The Scotsman.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
| The buyer is Andrew Brownsword |
Now that is one surname I wouldn't want. 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Hope they improve their customer service but I doubt it.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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As a past employee of slush and rubble, i have to admit the service we gave was pretty poo-poo at some points, but a lot was down to the customers who thought they were much better skiers than us and bought killy, not taking any of the advice we gave them. hence we just got pissed off. Now work at a much smaller group of shops, and cant wait till the winter months when i can fit boots and talk to people all day about skiing. it a lot easier to sell now, even though i'm now not earning commision, and dont have access to a huge range.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| davidof wrote: |
| Now that is one surname I wouldn't want. |
No, but how about the surname Rubble.
Wouldn't that be cool?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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In an optimistic and pathetic attempt to find out what's been paid for S+R I visited their website.
No news or revelations there at all. Not even an 'Under New Management' banner. The top items on the 'chat room' are not quite up to snowHeads quality:
"HELP ME!!! PLEASE!!!" and
"wots your favourite ski resort...help me out???"
I wonder what value the S+R buyer put on the 'chat room'. Some good deals in the summer sale department though.
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Apparently there was going to be a management buy-out. That looks to have fallen through.
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I gather that one or two people have visited this site by mistake.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Here's the main body of a statement issued by Snow+Rock:
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Friday 9 July 2004
The new owner is Andrew Brownsword, well known in greetings card publishing and as the founder of the ‘Forever Friends’ brand.
The Directors of Snow+Rock are pleased to announce that the Company has been sold for an undisclosed sum. As well as having substantial property and hotel interests, Andrew Brownsword is involved with a number of other brands including Napiers, Paxton & Whitfield and Bath Rugby.
Asked for his thoughts on concluding the purchase, Andrew said, “In Snow+Rock, there is a great brand which reflects my passion for providing leading and innovative products with outstanding customer service. In the current senior team we have over 120 years of combined expertise and between us we see a unique opportunity to extend the Snow+Rock experience to a much wider audience”
Following the sale Dion Taylor has been appointed Managing Director. Andrew Brownsword and Jeremy Hancock will join the Board. With the exception of Mike Browne, all of the Directors will remain with the business and are committed to driving it forward. In addition, there is a young and dynamic middle management team supporting the Directors.
Dion Taylor said “The opportunity offered by this new partnership with Andrew brings fresh drive to our business, not only for Snow+Rock and its employees but for the industry as a whole. We are very excited at the prospect of working with Andrew and Jeremy”.
With a 20 year unbroken growth record, the change in ownership will provide Snow+Rock with a new impetus to build on its recent highly successful store openings in Port Solent and Manchester. The new Superstore in Romford, which will open in October, and the future planned developments will strengthen its position in the Snow Sports market and develop further the Outdoor and Leisure areas of its business.
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Dion Taylor, for those who don't know him, has been S+R's equipment director for many years. Kiwi, with a big sense of humour. A strong skier, and pretty strong all round. I once saw him carry Mike Browne - the founder of the company - across a mountain restaurant in St Anton after Mike's huge accident that left him paralysed. There is also a legendary story of him carrying something very amusing into somebody's bedroom. I'll recount this shortly.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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OK Ringaminga time to come clean - which is your shop? - I need a new pair of boots and it sounds like you are the guy I need to talk to about fitting them
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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It was a live sheep, I believe it was carried up a fire escape. Whether it entered the man's bed is not known.
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Maybe it needed a baaath.
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You know it makes sense.
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On the financial side, natives.co.uk estimate the sale in the region of £15 million in their variation of the news item.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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David, given a bit of back-of-the-envelope calculations, I'd agree with that estimate. Using Blacks as a comparable publicly traded company, they are trading on a 15.2x FY2003 Pre-tax profit (unusual metric for valuation, I'll grant you). Given S&R had a PBT of £1.03m in FY03, this gives an equity value of £15.6m. We should really discount this somewhat as it's a private company (immediately pre-IPO, a private company could be valued at 20-40% lower than its value post-IPO). However, since the aquirer has assumed control, we should also add a control premium of 20-40% to the acquisition price, so for want of more technical analysis, let's say they cancel out.
However, S&R had doubled its PBT for 03 vs 02 - this may be because of accounting reasons rather than genuine growth, but for lack of better information, I think we can assume they're growing faster than Blacks. This may add anything up to a 50% premium to their valuation multiple, so we may be talking up to £20-25. S&R also seem to have a significantly higher turnover per store than Blacks, which would again attract a higher multiple.
All in all, I'd guess a massive range of £15m-25m for S&R (bankers are notorious for not wanting to commit to numbers  ). Realistically, given the almost zero info we have, this is about as close as you'll get - if he payed less than £15m, he got a steal... Gut says 20.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Well I hope that this will improve their extremely variable customer service. I received excellent advice and help when I bought my first pair of ski boots last season, but that its been all downhill since then.
I've just been to their London shop today to buy some running shoes & the only advice I received was - 'good choice, they're a nice colour'
Things can only get better (I hope!!!)
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FAQ
