After three decades of remarkable growth, Karrimor’s family-owned Lancashire business entered a financial and managerial crisis during the 1990s. The company had built an international reputation through products such as the Alpiniste backpack, the Karrimat sleeping mat, the KS-100e waterproof nylon fabric, and equipment used on major Everest and Annapurna expeditions. But expansion financed through outside investment began to destabilize the company. In 1993, the Parsons family sold a 25 percent stake to Gartmore to fund acquisitions including Phoenix Mountaineering and Life Cycle. By 1996, the strategy had left Karrimor in what contemporary accounts described as a “desperate” financial position, prompting the sale of a controlling stake to 21 Invest, the investment arm associated with the Italian Bonomi and Benetton business empires, for £7 million. Founder’s son Mike Parsons remained president but clashed severely with the venture capital owners, who sought to push Karrimor toward fashion, retail, and broader commercial expansion. Parsons was forced out in early 1998, severing the company’s connection with the family that had built it from a six-person bicycle-bag operation into a dominant British outdoor manufacturer.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1990s–2000s
The Karrimor Takeover That Erased a Lancashire Manufacturing Legacy
Karrimor International Ltd / 1990s–2000s
After three decades of remarkable growth, Karrimor’s family-owned Lancashire business entered a financial and managerial crisis during the 1990s. The company had built an international reputation through products such as the Alpiniste backpack, the Karrimat sleeping mat, the KS-100e waterproof nylon fabric, and equipment used on major Everest and Annapurna expeditions. But expansion financed through outside investment began to destabilize the company. In 1993, the Parsons family sold a 25 percent stake to Gartmore to fund acquisitions including Phoenix Mountaineering and Life Cycle. By 1996, the strategy had left Karrimor in what contemporary accounts described as a “desperate” financial position, prompting the sale of a controlling stake to 21 Invest, the investment arm associated with the Italian Bonomi and Benetton business empires, for £7 million. Founder’s son Mike Parsons remained president but clashed severely with the venture capital owners, who sought to push Karrimor toward fashion, retail, and broader commercial expansion. Parsons was forced out in early 1998, severing the company’s connection with the family that had built it from a six-person bicycle-bag operation into a dominant British outdoor manufacturer.
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