History

1998 – J & R Sports Limited founded in September by John & Richard Birchwood and operates from our first warehouse in Aintree, Merseyside.

1999 – Two of our first in house brands developed, being Renner Skateboards and Xcess Skates. Lindsay Birchwood joins the company to confirm further our family business.

2000 – Introduction of JD Bug Scooters to our portfolio which saw the JD Bug brand become a leader in folding Scooters and a leader in the massive boom of scooters during 2000.

2001 – The start of the last skateboard sales boom and Renner Skateboards again at the forefront of this sales boom, developing standard skateboards in more graphic and specification options than any other brand. Some of Renner’s logos and designs have been incorporated into many other brands designs since. Boras footwear appoints J & R Sports as their distributor, and immediately Boras becomes one of the biggest selling skate shoe brands in the UK due to J & R Sports policy of selling stock from their holding rather than working with pre orders by season.

2002 – Development of Renner’s Mini Board range which led skateboard sales for this year. 2002 also saw the introduction of Code and Spartak skateboards to our portfolio.

2003 – Micro scooters added to the portfolio and the scooter sales boom slowly starts again, but it will be a few years before we experience the sales experienced in 2000.

2004 – USA skate brand Roller Derby added to the portfolio adding a full range of both junior and adult roller and in-line skates.

2005 – Seba Skates incorporated and announce their distribution is now through J & R Sports. Loaded Longboards also confirm J & R Sports as their distributor.

2006 – J & R Sports are appointed the UK distributor for PoweRisers.

2007 – J & R Sports relocates to new premises in Huyton and more than doubles the companies warehousing capacity. Riedell skates appoint J & R Sports as their Distributor for UK and Ireland.

2008 – Further expansion of J & R Sports warehousing capacity is required and the company installs a 5000 sq ft deep store racking system at their premises in Huyton which facilitates the storage of more than 300 extra pallets of stock. GFH appoints J & R Sports as their distributor for the UK and Ireland. Khiro appoint J & R Sports as their distributor.

2009 – Discussions take place with FreshPark over the appointment of J & R Sports as distributor by sadly these discussions fail to come to an agreement. Paris Trucks appoint J & R Sports as their distribution partner. Abec 11 & Retro Wheels appoint J & R Sports as their distributor. Triple 8 appoint J & R Sports as their distributor for the UK and Ireland. Discussions take place with YAK Wheels for distribution but agreement is not reached. J & R Sports release the first of many Limited Edition JD Bug scooters further increasing the brand awareness and sales of these models are purchased by our retailer partners without even knowing the colours until they receive the stock.

2010 – 81 Customs appoint J & R Sports as their distributor. Orangatang is born and their first wheels, the In-Heat and 4President are added to our expanding longboard sector. A number of other major brands approach J & R Sports regarding distribution, however at this stage J & R Sports feel their portfolio is now full and only brands offering something we don’t already have covered would be considered.

2011 – Madd Gear is added to the J & R Sports portfolio and the UK experiences the biggest extreme sports craze it has ever known. Freshpark appoint J & R Sports as their distributor for the UK & Ireland. KHE Bikes appoint J & R Sports to cover their distribution for the UK and Ireland. YAK wheels appoint J & R Sports as their distribution partner.

2012 – J & R Sports has to re-locate again, this time back to Aintree, close to where it all started to a new state of the art warehouse facilities with extensive warehousing and offices. Their old site in Huyton is still maintained and is used for bulk product storage as well as specific brand distribution. Work starts on the development of our B2B platform.

2013 – We launch our new B2B platform with customers praising the platform and the excellent benefits that it brings to our market sector. Extensive office and warehouse extension works completed, including 5 further offices to their new Aintree premises as well as relocation and expansion of the deep storage racking facility now with an increased capacity of nearly 500 pallets. New mezzanine floors are added increasing the company’s capacity by a further 8000 sq ft.

2014 - Moxi, the exciting and vibrant skate brand is added to the J & R Sports portfolio together with Harsh Protective which offer a full range of protective equipment including their lightweight Harsh EPS in-mould helmets.

2016 - S1 Helmets and Protection added to the J & R Sports portfolio, proving to be the leading helmet brand in Roller Derby as well as other extreme sports.

2018 - FR Skates, a sister brand to Seba Skates is added to the portfolio bringing their iconic FR 1 in-line skates

2019 - Candi Grl from Roller Derby is introduced with a full range of vibrant roller skates for both kids and adults alike.

2023 - The most famous bearing brand in the world, Bones Bearings, is added to the portfolio along with their Eulogy and RollerBones brands

2025 - After over 10 years with the same B2B platform, that still functions excellently, we launch our new platform in September 2025