News

Retiring Raleigh Product Director David Moakes, pictured left shaking hands with Raleigh MD Mark Gouldthorp.

A bike industry veteran of more than 30 years retired from his post at Raleigh UK recently, and has been looking back at his career at one of the world’s oldest bike firms.

Raleigh Product Director David Moakes retired from one of the company’s top positions having joined the Raleigh’s toy design department in 1972.

David said he was looking back on a career spent working with people from all countries and cultures who shared a passion for all things two-wheeled.

“I joined Raleigh Industries Ltd in September 1972 as an industrial design graduate to work in the Toy Design Department in the days when many of the components used in toys and bike were made in the Lenton factory.

“By 1980 I had been promoted to Concept Design Manger where I began to get involved with bicycle product development and marketing. However in 1986 I took a change in direction and went into parts and accessories as Product Manager which really opened up the world of travel as the emerging component makers for accessories and bikes were now being established in the Far East.

“Specifying and sourcing was the order of the day my design and technical background was of great benefit. During this time structural changes occurred in parts and accessories as we developed a dealer direct policy and laid the foundations for the multi-million pound business we have today.

“I then had a period which has been referred to as my holiday when I went to work for two competitors; Reece Cycles plc sourcing bicycles and accessories in 1996, and then to Falcon Cycles Ltd in 2002 to assist in the transition to out-sourced product.

“Approximately four years ago the opportunity presented itself to return to Raleigh, which was not a difficult choice as I relished the challenge to help re-establish the brand and its position in the UK market. The rest is recent history as in the final period I have been working hard to establish good relationships with our suppliers of bicycles and where necessary ensure the continual improvement in quality and delivery matched the ever demanding need to place the Raleigh brand at the forefront of our customer.

“Much has been done in the last 18 months and the recent acquisition by the Accell Group can only enhance the prospects for another century for Raleigh in the bike business.
Looking back, I have been privileged to have met and worked with many talented people from all over the world and from different cultures, all with a passion for two wheels and my experience has been unique in that I have worked in both bicycles and accessories and each has different demands and priorities which sometimes do not always immediately gel together but if you work at it a way can be found.”

Everyone at Raleigh thanks David for his work over the years and wishes him all the best in his retirement.    

Nottingham Building Society (The Nottingham) has announced that it will sponsor Raleigh Bicycles’ professional cycling team, Team Raleigh, for the second year running.

The announcement confirms The Nottingham’s commitment to support the well-known Nottinghamshire organisation with strong local heritage.

Members of Team Raleigh along with support vehicles and crew and senior management from Raleigh are visiting The Nottingham’s Head Office at 4pm today (Wednesday 17th April) to celebrate this new partnership.

David Marlow, Chief Executive of The Nottingham, commenting on the partnership, said: “Last year we chose to team up with bicycle brand Raleigh, which has had its headquarters in Nottingham for over 125 years. Following the success of this partnership, we’re delighted to be sponsoring Team Raleigh again in 2013.

“We wish the members of Team Raleigh every success for the season and are especially looking forward to teaming up in September when we hold our annual charity bike ride.”

Team Raleigh’s Geoff Giddings, pictured front centre presents The Nottingham’s Chief Exec, David Marlow, front left and Chief Operating Officer Simon Taylor with a signed Team Raleigh 2013 jersey. In the background, from left: Lachlan Norris, Tom Scully, Cherie Pridham, Mark O’Brien, Sam Witmitz.

Cherie Pridham, Team Manager said:

“We are thrilled to have the support of The Nottingham again for 2013. After our highly successful 2012 season we are proud to be working together again to promote our brands throughout the Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and East Midlands regions, not only through professional cycling but also through several exciting community initiatives.”

Geoff Giddings, Raleigh Marketing Director added:

“Our race team and our partnership with The Nottingham are going from strength to strength. Together we had some tremendous successes during 2012 and we’ve kicked off 2013 with some huge victories. We are looking to keep Raleigh and The Nottingham at the forefront of one of the fastest growing and most exciting sports around.”

Managers and staff at Cyclelife Shoreham are celebrating a faultless review following a visit from industry publication Bikebiz’s ‘mystery shopper’.

Bikebiz handed the Raleigh and Diamondback stockist its ‘Star Store’ award having visited recently and compared the level of customer services to four other stores local to Shoreham, West Sussex.

The magazine said of the store:

“There is very little, if anything, that we could pick holes in with this visit…. The helper detailed the bike impeccably, without too much jargon…. After sales service was covered comprehensively, with value for money aspects spread over the two years of free service cover, which emphasised why I should buy from this store in particular.”

“Warranty information settled my nerves about the bikes longevity well and there was little more I could expect from the salesman by the time I left.”

Store boss Richard Dowdeswell, whose family have stocked Raleigh bikes for 48 years, said he was delighted the store had received the award.

“We pride ourselves on our level of customer service so we were delighted with Bikebiz’s write-up. They were very complimentary of our sales pitch, which has been honed through the training we’ve received from Raleigh and also our family’s many decades of experience in the cycling industry.

“Our approach is to help the customer and find the right product to suit their needs, we are not trying to force the wrong product on them.”

The store offers a number of incentives to shoppers including free bike build and free aftercare service.

For more information about the store, click here.

Raleigh is proud to announce a partnership with McDonald’s over its ‘Monopoly Fortunes’ spring 2013 promotion.

The promotion, available in all of McDonald’s UK restaurants, gives consumers the chance to win one of 300 Raleigh bikes up to the value of £250 in addition to a host of other prizes from leading consumer goods and luxury brands.

The promotion will be communicated to consumers with a national TV campaign and via in-restaurant packaging and point of purchase materials over a 6 week period.

Mark Gouldthorp, Raleigh UK Managing Director said: “We are proud to be working with McDonald’s on a partnership that sees two household brands join forces to offer some fantastic prizes for consumers.”

“This exciting campaign is part of our long-term sustained effort to remain as the nation’s favourite bike brand – a status that was confirmed with our recent ‘superbrand’ status.”

“This promotion will remind consumers of Raleigh’s fantastic heritage as well as our commitment to delivering reliable, innovative and excellent value for money products.”

Raleigh prizes will be distributed to winners in partnership with Raleigh’s main dealer network.

21-year-old Raleigh sponsored endurance rider Daniel Moores has sent us some photos from the globe trotting training trips he’s taking in preparation for the epic Race Across America.

Daniel is training hard to become one of the youngest endurance athletes to complete the incredible 3,000 mile race across the states, which includes 170,000ft of climbing and starts on 11th June.

To put this in perspective, RAAM is around a third longer than the Tour de France, and must be completed in half the time! Exhaustion and sleep deprivation are also a factor as riders can only allow themselves four hours sleep a day –  at the very most.

As Raleigh’s sponsored athlete for 2013 we’ve equipped Daniel with two of our top-of-the-range road bikes; the SP Race and the Revenio Carbon.

To read more about Daniel’s challenge, click here.