CLUB STATEMENT Regarding Delays FROM MACRON in Delivery of Our 23/24 Season Playing Kits
We regretfully report that we have sought legal counsel regarding the ongoing delays caused by our new kit supplier, Macron Hertfordshire, an authorised distributor of the Macron brand.
Our club has not yet received our home, away, and training kits for our men's and ladies' first teams and 21 girls' youth teams; this is despite approving designs on July 13th and making payment in full, totalling more than £50,000.
In a prolonged process of enquiring about the delivery of our kits, we have encountered a relentless sequence of lies, broken promises, miscommunications, and additional delays.
Most critically, we have discovered there was a 5-6 week delay in Macron Hertfordshire processing our orders with Macron HQ for our senior men's and ladies' teams. Further, 9 weeks after making payment in full, Macron Hertfordshire has not yet processed our order for our 21 girls' youth teams.
There is no reason for these delays.
We have done everything possible in our power to find a resolution, and we have provided Macron Hertfordshire with every opportunity to rectify the situation. Yet, we have faced further delays, unexplained silences, and no plan to fix this.
For clarity:
In June, we agreed to partner with Mr Adam Harpur of Macron Hertfordshire, who confirmed a 30-40 day lead time for our orders. Relying on this assurance, we approved designs, placed orders and paid all invoices in advance, anticipating timely deliveries.
The men's kits were paid for, in full, on June 28th, totalling £11,695.70.
The ladies' kits were paid for, in full, on July 5th, totalling £9,541.70.
The 21 girl’s youth team kits were paid for, in full, on July 13th, totalling £30,290.
With a photoshoot booked for the men’s and ladies' teams on July 29th we inquired with Mr Harpur regarding the feasibility of such a delivery date. Mr Harpur assured us he would do his best to meet this date, but it would be challenging. Regrettably, delays occurred during the CAD design approvals as requested design amends were repeatedly not made. For context, Macron's headquarters handles and finalises all designs, with any modification entailing an additional 24-hour turnaround.
Given Mr Harpur's lead time guidance and design setbacks, Mr Harpur remained reassuring. However, as the deadline loomed, our attempts to communicate with him were met with silence. On July 27th we cancelled our photoshoot as Mr Harpur offered only silence. On July 28th, Mr Harpur confirmed Macron’s inability to meet the deadline, projecting a delivery for the week commencing August 14th.
As August 14th approached and passed, we regularly reached out to Mr Harpur for an update on our delivery status, but we were once again met with silence. Similarly, we attempted to place orders for pre-order kits, additional kits for three more teams and a large order for one of our sponsors, but again, Mr Harpur did not reply to our requests for pricing.
On August 16th, after chasing our delivery we received the following message from Adam Harpur:
“it’s being produced, I can’t track between factory and HQ. But when it’s at HQ and in transit to me I can. I’m asking questions every other day trust me.”
We now know this to be a lie as he had not processed the order, and would not process it for another 24 days.
As more time passed and we again chased deliveries we were again met with silence. Given the lack of response and the need to place additional orders, we approached an alternate Macron distributor but were informed of Macron's rules prohibiting transfers between authorised distributors without
Explicit consent from their Head Office
Fulfilment of the outstanding orders with Hertfordshire
We were left in a catch-22 position as Hertfordshire had not processed our orders, and we could not make new orders. Armed with this information, we approached the Head of Macron UK, hoping for an intervention.
Since contacting the head of Macron UK, we have since been made aware of several alarming things:
While Mr Harpur promised a delivery date of w/c August 14th, he held onto our money and did not process the orders until August 21st for the men's kits and August 28th for the ladies, a 5-6 week delay. Thus, while communicating guidelines for delivery dates, it was done knowing he had not even processed the orders.
Once he finally processed orders, they contained several sizing errors despite us providing detailed specifications on volumes and sizes.
Mr Harpur has not attempted to process our orders for our 21 girls' youth teams despite us approving designs and making payment in full on July 13th; this is a 9 week delay, meaning our girls' youth teams have no playing kits or training gear for the new season and no plan to fix it.
Mr Harpur has not explained the delays in processing our orders and misleading us regarding delivery dates.
Since engaging with the UK head of Macron, we have been subjected to further unexplained poor service, more silence and a severe lack of dedication to finding a resolution.
Had the orders been made on time, our teams would have all their playing kits and training gear. Yet, not only do we not have our kits, but there remains considerable ambiguity surrounding the status of our orders, leaving our teams without essential gear and our commitments to sponsors unmet.
It is unexplained why Mr Harpur took payment in full from our club and has not processed our orders. We will leave it to Macron and our lawyers to uncover why. However, the implications for our football club are significant, and the specific impact on our ladies and girls' youth teams is particularly disconcerting.
Real Bedford is committed to supporting the female side of the game in Bedford and has worked very hard over the past year to build a good relationship with Bedford Ladies & Girls, Bedford's leading female football club. Such was the relationship's success they agreed to rebrand as Real Bedford this season. We agreed to buy new training and playing kits for all teams from under 7's to the senior first team, nearly 300 players and coaches. However, as the season commences, we lack these promised kits, undermining our attempts to champion and elevate the female side of the game.
Despite the failings of Macron Hertfordshire, Macron's unclear vetting process of people they permit to represent their brand and failure to intervene and resolve this matter, we are open to fixing this situation. We, therefore, propose to Macron the following five-point resolution plan:
A competent representative from Macron should assume responsibility from Mr Harpur.
Permission is granted to our club to move our business to another authorised Macron distributor.
Macron provides immediate clarification regarding fulfilling our senior men's and ladies' kits, including rectifying order mistakes.
Macron expedites the production of our girls' youth team kits.
A suitable compensation package is agreed upon for the losses incurred by our club, which we will donate towards our girls' youth coaching programme and hardship fund.
As Macron leverages the ongoing Rugby World Cup to elevate its brand, we implore them to remember the grassroots – the small clubs and young players who genuinely keep the spirit of sports alive. While I am sure they will blame this on a rogue reseller, resellers are authorised, and Macron should be responsible for ensuring that they are competent representatives of their brand, especially since another Macron reseller has made us aware that Mr Harpur has a reputation for poor service and delivery.
Non-league and local football lives on the hard work of the countless employees and volunteers who dedicate themselves to the sport. Those at these levels know how much hard work is involved in coordinating teams and providing young people the opportunity to play football - from assembling teams to finding coaches to arranging matches. We did not anticipate further challenges to emanate from trusted partners.
Macron must step forward, address these issues, and ensure they are not recurrent with other clubs.
We appreciate the patience and support of our fans, some of whom are awaiting their pre-ordered kits. We have tried to resolve this in the background. We understand this news will cause disappointment, and we can only apologise. We will honour any request for a refund, which we will make immediately and in full - if you would like a refund, please email your order number to hello@realbedford.com. With that said, we hope you can stick by us as we await Macron to resolve this.
We also must thank our shirt sponsors, Gemini, Iris, Luxor, and Galaxy, who understand the situation and vowed to stand by us.
We are committed to resolving this and ensuring the best for our club, its supporters and sponsors so that we can focus on football.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch with the club at hello@realbedford.com.
Sincerely,
Peter McCormack,
Chairman, Real Bedford Football Club.
