BRANDS
RELOCATION RELOCATION
GT Bicycles has gone through a period of transition in recent times. Simon Cox speaks to UK sales manager Josh Whiting to learn about the developments and opportunities
Relocating the brand was a big move. Tell us about the brand history and how that influenced the choice location. Over the last year, GT relocated, both here in the UK, and at a global level, moving out of the Cycling Sports Group (CSG) business to be an independent brand again. In the USA they moved from the CSG business in Connecticut on the East Coast, home to Southern California where the brand was born over fifty years ago. In the UK, GT moved from Cycling Sports Group to Pon Bike
Performance (Jungle) as the brand was repositioned by PON into the performance category alongside Santa Cruz and Cervelo. Moving to Southern California brings GT full circle. The office is a 10 minute bike ride to the iconic Laguna Hills trails where the original RTS and LTS bikes were developed in the 1990’s. On the business side, the transition from
CSG to PBP continues as GT accounts transfer across.
I am heading up GT in the UK, which is one of the brand’s strongest markets globally. We will, ultimately, build an independent
team here.
Currently CSG and PBP provide different functions to GT’s daily business, such as
www.bikebiz.com
warranty and credit control, but with me currently leading the brand, I can engage from our end consumers right through to dealers and our supply team. Being able to direct a consumer to a local dealer with stock has been a massive benefit.
How is PBP UK looking to shape the future for GT, globally, and in the UK? GT is currently at the beginning of a bold new era. We joke internally that we are a 52-year-old start up. The GT Bicycles global team is small and nimble and includes me, as UK sales manager, and Clive Gosling, who heads up GT’s global marketing (but based in the UK). Being part of a small, tight, team, headed by Jason Schiers - ex Enve Composites and Crankbrothers - means there’s some rapid progress that can be made from product through to distribution. We can react much quicker to market trends and will start to see the fruits of our labour as a standalone business for product year 2025.
Josh Whiting
What will UK retailers notice as the brand moves forward with PBP UK? GT operates independently from Cervelo and Santa Cruz within PBP so any existing dealers
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