AY Up ends UK distribution agreement
It would appear that the fallout from the tumbling global financial markets continues to impact upon the average mountain biker, with the little-reported news last week that Ay Up, the Australian no-nonsense bike light company, has ended its UK distribution agreement.
This will perhaps be more of a hindrance than a disaster to non-domestic owners and potential buyers, but with the Australian dollar suffering against other world currencies, Ay Up’s UK arrangement has clearly gone beyond economical and strategic sense.
It’s not unusual in the current climate for a company to want to consolidate its operations and keep a tighter rein on its distribution and, accordingly, Ay Up have now reverted back to their original strategy of distributing from Australia and processing all orders in Australian Dollars.
As eluded to above, for the average UK customer, this certainly means a longer lead time on orders, but with the product range unaffected and the still great line-up of simple lighting solutions, dare I suggest it is business as usual Down Under. The falling Aussie Dollar will lead to some cost savings for domestic clientèle, but according to Ay Up’s international delivery estimates their MTB package will still set back the UK buyer 245 notes (at current exchange, including taxes) against the £250 the same set cost me last year from the UK. However, you could argue that with the rising cost of bikes and parts generally that this now represents an even better deal than judged at face value.
Ay Up, perhaps a bit like our very own On-One, are great exponents of a small company, selling a quality brand (with a cult(ish) following) directly to those who want a no-nonsense, value for money product. Let’s hope all is well with our Aussie cousins.
Every cyclist loves coffee!
☕Buy Matt a coffeeThere are 3 replies to Lee so far
We really appreciate comments from our readers. If you have something to say, we'd love to hear from you.
Add to the conversation…
()
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
March 23, 2009 at 11:30 am
Mark ferris says:
In the past the delivery from Oz was always ace. amazing considering the distance… I have bought a couple sets before they started the UK arm up and was amazed at the speed they managed to get stuff over here.
, or add a new comment
August 29, 2011 at 8:50 pm
Simon Sutter says:
Yep great lights but expect £75 import duty on top of the price… makes them very expensive!
, or add a new comment
August 30, 2011 at 9:53 am
Dave says:
Ouch!
In the 2 and a bit years since this article was written a lot has happened in lighting. Certainly lots of our riders have gone for Four4th lights or the cheaper DX lighting.
, or add a new comment