Trade supplies to continue as usual.
Stubbs, the eponymous stable yard equipment brand, has a new owner.
C3D Holdings has acquired the business and assets of Stubbs including the trading names, brand names and product rights, all stock, machinery and equipment, and the order book.
Chris Bradwell, latterly managing director of Stubbs and the sixth generation of his family to run the business, is staying on to mastermind product development.
Stubbs’ products – from its famous feed scoops to the award-winning Shelfie - will continue to be manufactured at its Nottinghamshire site.
All 19 Stubbs employees are retaining their jobs, Chris told ETN.
Trade supplies will continue as usual, with general manager Andrew Bartle – who’s been with Stubbs since joining the company 41 years ago – overseeing day-to-day operations.
“Seamless handover”
C3D Holdings is owned by Greg Clarke, Alex Clarke, Richard Dewey-Clarke and Anna Dewey-Clarke.
Richard and Anna are well-known in the equestrian industry, while Anna’s father Greg runs a business that wholesales industrial trolleys, a product Stubbs also makes.
C3D Holdings says it’s committed to ensuring a smooth transition for Stubbs’ trade customers.
“We are fortunate to have secured the consultancy expertise of Chris, the former owner, throughout the transition period. This will ensure a seamless handover of knowledge and no interruption to service,” said a spokesperson.
“The future of the business is dear to me”
Chris Bradwell, very much the ‘face’ of Stubbs, is emphatic that production will remain in the UK.
“I have the best intentions to ensure the future of the Stubbs business and its reputation,” he told ETN.
“It’s actually a massive burden on my shoulders – there are 188 years of my family in this business and that is hard to take.
“I’m certainly not going to watch over a decline in the business or a change to imported [products]. The future of the business is very dear to me.”
Chris is currently working on 187 product ideas. “My partner Pam says that if you cut me in half, I’d have Stubbs written right through me,” he added.
