BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Gemma Thompson, co-founder of a new bike shop in North Yorkshire, explains how her and her partner James found their dream mechanic
This piece first appeared in the November edition of BikeBiz magazine – get your free subscription here
RedSky Bikes, a totally new bike shop and workshop opening in November in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, was born out of James Gilbert’s own need for a local, expert cycling hub and his dedication to providing good old-fashioned customer service to like-minded adventurers.
James and I believe we have lots to bring to the industry, with our proven passion for outstanding customer service, years of business experience, all underpinned with a love of cycling and outdoor pursuits.
It was important to acquire a great head bike mechanic early on, as the workshop will be the central hub of the new shop. The first job application received at RedSky Bikes was from Stuart Rider, who had been running his own bike repair shop for over 10 years in Skipton – Riders Cycle Centre.
Stuart lives and breathes bikes, so much so that he doesn’t drive, much preferring to spend
his time on two wheels. It’s very evident from Riders Cycle Centre’s online presence that Stuart consistently goes above and beyond for his customers, with his full five-star customer review history.
We shared the same business ethos and he was everything we had wished for in our mechanic. Stuart’s story goes that his partner secured a new teaching position near Bedale so they were going to have to relocate, but he wasn’t sure what to do with Riders Cycle Centre.
Without having decided on an exact plan, our head mechanic job advert popped up and he felt that it could be an exciting opportunity for his next step. After a very easy three-hour interview I think it was evident that we were all sold on the idea of Stuart Rider being our head mechanic at RedSky Bikes!
Riders Cycle Centre closed at the end of September and Stuart will be at RedSky Bikes full time which will hopefully tie in nicely with the new house purchase that he’s got going on in Thirsk, as he wouldn’t want to be doing the 91km commute to work on his bike from Skipton (although he’s already done it once!)
