THE BIG INTERVIEW
Following the takeover, Merry stayed on with the newly formed Cycling Sports Group (CSG) UK as co-managing director, along with his brother. “Well, most entrepreneurs who sell don’t last very long, and I managed to last at least 10 years,” he said. “It taught me a lot. The idea was who was to take the best bits of the family business and add it to the best bits of the public company and try and create a bicycle business that respected both, because there’s lots of family businesses in the bicycle industry, and there’s good things in family businesses, and there’s good things in having the power and the resource of a public company behind you.”
A new start After holding roles in the US and the UK, Merry departed CSG in December 2020. Near the end of his time with CSG, Merry had met with
the new owner of Evans Cycles, Frasers Group, which had taken over the high street chain after the previous owner went into administration in 2018. After hitting it off with Frasers Group, Merry took a one year sabbatical from the bike industry, owing to a non- compete clause in his previous contract, when Frasers Group offered Merry the role as MD of the cycling wing. “I’m gamekeeper turned poacher, having had obviously a
lifetime on the other side of the table. Sometimes it’s quite useful to get the opposite perspective. “I think my role is quite strategic leadership in that I
do have a breadth of experience and understanding of the bicycle industry. If you then add what I think I bring, which is relationships, knowledge, and the specialism of the bike industry, and you add it to someone who is a retail expert.”
A place for everyone But how does Merry see the Evans business in the wider cycling landscape? “Independent bike sector is one of the most thriving
remaining independent sectors in retail,” he said. “And the reason is because it’s such a specialism - you
have to assemble bikes correctly or people get hurt, you get tremendous customer loyalty - but I think that we offer something different. “An owner-operator in a bike shop, who is a good retailer,
is always going to survive because he’s usually ingrained in the community and certainly ingrained in the cycling community. “We will attract a slightly different customer, maybe. We
have a professional retailing background and some great brands, so they’re not in direct competition. They’ll both bring something, and the strongest independent dealers will
Merry’s custom-painted Cannondale Moterra e-bike, a gift following his departure from CSG
www.bikebiz.com
July 2022 | 27
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
