FEATURE
THE BOB ELLIOT STORY: 40 YEARS OF CYCLING SUCCESS
From the back of a van to a national distributor, how Bob Elliot & Co. built a lasting legacy in the cycling industry.
1985
was a year of new beginnings for Bob Elliot. Welcoming his son, Paul, into the world coincided with the launch of Bob Elliot & Co.
We look back on how it all began as the company celebrates its 40th anniversary. Before Bob Elliot existed (the business, not the man) Bob had worked in the industry prior to starting his company. Following the closure of several factories, being made redundant, and lack of opportunity in Scotland, he decided to move to Manchester to join his wife, Sue. He knew he’d have to create his own opportunities, and with a young family, he couldn’t afford to sit still for long. Thanks to his industry background and anticipating the needs of trade, Bob began selling parts from the back of his car. Shortly after he got a VW LT35 van, before replacing it
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with a Renault Master equipped with baskets that allowed retailers to step in and fill up on stock, something that set him apart from others doing the same at the time. Two years later he put a second van on the road, “I was finding it very difficult to cover the North as a whole and run the business because me and my wife did everything,” he recalled. At that time, all the deliveries came to his home. He’d head home, restock from the garage and head back out on the road.
Between Bob and a friend, together they did the North of England in two vans. Soon, the practicalities of managing several deliveries at home and risking not keeping in favour with the neighbours meant Bob got his first unit. From there that grew to securing units close to home and employing Paul Freeman as warehouse manager, someone who still
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