The beloved British outdoor gear company raised over £4 million from its own customers, but now those investors face total losses as a pre-pack deal wipes out their shareholdings
When Alpkit launched its first crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube in June 2020, it raised over £1.4 million from 1,347 investors. The enthusiasm was such that when it returned to Crowdcube in November 2022, nearly twice as many people backed the brand, with 2,897 investors committing over £2.7 million. In total, over 4,000 individuals invested more than £4 million into a company they didn’t just shop with, they believed in.
That belief has now come at a painful price.
At the end of January 2026, administrators Mark Thornton and Benjamin Peterson of BDO LLP were appointed to Alpkit Ltd, and within hours had completed a “pre-packaged” sale of the business and its assets to a newly formed entity, KSR26 Ltd, for just £690,000. The sale consideration, comprising £530,000 for stock, £100,000 for intellectual property, and roughly £60,000 for plant and machinery, was insufficient to repay secured creditors HSBC and FSE Group, let alone reach the thousands of ordinary investors waiting further down the creditor hierarchy. Crowdcube confirmed to shareholders that there are no funds available for distribution to unsecured creditors or shareholders, and that share value has been entirely lost.
For many of those investors, this is not simply a financial blow. Alpkit built its crowdfunding campaigns explicitly around its community, the hikers, cyclists and climbers who bought its gear and attended its annual “Big Shakeout” events and gravel rides. These were customers turned evangelists turned shareholders. The average investment across the two rounds works out at just under £1,000 per person, though individual stakes will have varied considerably.
CEO and co-founder David Hanney acknowledged the personal dimension of the losses in his letter to shareholders. “One of the personal pleasures of this journey, which makes this decision so much harder, is knowing that behind every transaction is a human relationship,” he wrote. “To us, you have always been far more than lines and numbers on a chart.”
A Perfect Storm
Alpkit’s collapse was driven by what Hanney described as a combination of rapid cost inflation, a challenging retail environment, new trade barriers, rising interest rates, and the mounting burden of recovery loan repayments accumulated during the pandemic years. The company had as recently as December 2025 been named Outdoor Brand of the Year.
Working with advisory firm BDO, the board explored an extensive range of alternatives before concluding that administration was unavoidable. These included a debt-for-equity swap with its banks, private equity investment, a discounted rights issue to existing shareholders, a potential third Crowdcube fundraise, and a deep internal restructuring to trade down to a smaller profitable core. More than 180 investors were approached, over 60% responded and 50 parties examined the business closely. None made a viable offer to rescue the company as a going concern.
The Pre-Pack and Its Consequences
The mechanism used, a pre-packaged administration, allowed administrators to sell the business almost immediately upon appointment, preserving 194 jobs, which transferred to the new entity under TUPE regulations, and honouring customer deposits and gift certificates. The buyer, KSR26 Ltd, is backed by Dutch investor Jeroen van den Berge, described as an outdoor enthusiast with a background in strategy consulting and finance who previously co-founded an industrial supplies group. The existing leadership team, including Hanney and the original co-founders, will continue running the business.
Crucially, Crowdcube’s consent was not required for the transaction, as administrators acted under their statutory powers, leaving shareholders with no meaningful say in an outcome that wiped out their investments entirely.
A Consolation Prize, But Questions Remain
Alpkit has offered existing crowdfund shareholders what it describes as something “rare”: equity in the new company. Hanney has promised that all investors from both crowdfunding rounds will receive new shares, describing it as a demonstration of how “well-aligned” the new investor is with the shareholder community. Van den Berge will not take a leading operational role, instead supporting the existing management team.
Whether that stake will carry meaningful value, and on what terms it will be offered, remains unclear. The company has asked shareholders to allow 90 days for the details to be confirmed.
Crowdcube has advised shareholders to retain its communications for their records and to consult a tax adviser. While Alpkit was not EIS-eligible, meaning no EIS loss relief is available, investors may be able to claim a capital loss against future capital gains, or make a negligible value claim before the company is formally dissolved.
For now, thousands of outdoor enthusiasts who staked real money on a brand they genuinely loved are left weighing an uncertain consolation against cold financial reality. Alpkit’s shareholder rewards scheme and its Alpine Bond product warranty survive. Their £4 million does not.
