In the saddle: Peter Marchment, ITS Cycling

BikeBiz: What bikes do you own and where’s your favourite spot to ride them?

Peter Marchment: Too many to fit in my flat! Most of the time it’s my Merckx EMX-5 road bike, which I’ve had for a few years. I’m living in London now, so it spends a lot of time in Richmond Park, but my favourite riding is done when I get to go home to the Isle of Man. There’s a beautiful climb called Tholt-y-Will, the bottom looks almost like an alpine valley road, but at the top it becomes this stunning exposed heathland with great views. Cavendish is a big fan of the road so that makes it good enough for me. 

Tell us about your background in the cycle trade:

I’d never worked in the cycle trade properly until setting up my own business, InnerTubeShop.com in 2012, although I’ve always been into bikes and have been hanging around at trade shows and events ever since I was at university. It’s been a huge learning curve, but I’ve had great fun along the way.

Tell us about ITS, it’s a family business run by cyclists, is that right?

Exactly. I started ITS Cycling as a B2B business last summer, and my brother Tom joined in August, so we now run the business together. We also try to make sure everyone working here feels a part of the family too. And by that I mean it’s not just us two making the decisions – everyone gets together regularly to look at where the business is going and decide what we’re going to do as a group. It’s a great way to do things as we get lots of different perspectives and everyone is prepared to question and challenge each other.

There’s a number of incentives to buy via ITS over competing distributors – what are these?

The biggest one is free carriage on orders over £50, which as far as we know is the lowest in the business. We really want to make things easier for smaller retailers or businesses like cycle cafes or local shops who want to stock some cycle parts. We can also arrange named day delivery and Saturday delivery at no extra charge and our courier provides a one hour delivery window with SMS updates, which is really valuable for people like mobile cycle repairers who can’t sit at home all day waiting for a courier to arrive.

You’ve a few new labels now in stock with ITS – what are these and how can dealers benefit?

Yes, we’ve recently started distributing Fibrax’ range of brake and cable spares and the whole suite of Weldtite brands – Dr Sludge, TF2, Cyclo and Dirtwash. Along with our in-house ITS Cycling Tubes and Glo Cycle Lights, this gives us a great core of brands that suits not only IBDs, but also cycle repairers and local shops who just want to carry a range of cycle spares. 

How can retailers take out an account with ITS?

Easy, they just need to give us a call on 01403 711813 and we can set them up and can take a first order straight away. Alternatively, there’s an application form at www.itscycling.co.uk/trade. We aim to open trade accounts and send out website logins within an hour so customers can get started using the easy to navigate B2B site as quickly as possible.