BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
WyndyMilla is merging with custom steel bike brand Spoon Customs.
Continuing to operate under the WyndyMilla and Spoon Custom brands, the group will combine its business operations and economies of scale to realise an ever more capable and diversified custom bicycle design and production company which plays to existing strengths in R&D, design, engineering and flawless finish.
The merger is expected to complete by the end of Q1 2020.
WyndyMilla was founded in 2009 by Henry Furniss and Nasima Siddiqui. Having built a successful brand and unrivalled product set, the co-founders will be leaving the business to take on new challenges in the world of cycling and fitness and are handing over the reins to the existing management team, which will be joined and led by Andy Carr, founder of Spoon Customs.
“We’re really proud of what we’ve built over the last ten years, through hard work and a commitment to doing things differently,” Furniss said. “WyndyMilla is a much-loved brand run by a highly capable, technically proficient team of passionate cyclists who have together produced some of the most exciting custom carbon bicycles available anywhere in the world.
“As Nasima and I move on to new challenges, we look forward to seeing what the combined brand and technical expertise of Spoon Customs and WyndyMilla can do, as they capitalise on the platform for growth that has been successfully built over the last few years.”
Carr takes over the role of CEO from Chris Houghton, ex CEO of OVO Energy Retail, who remains with the business as a non-executive director. Andy Bonsall, ex co-founder and executive director of Essence Global, is also a director of the company and will take on the role of non-executive chairman of the group.
“Like many, I’ve been a long-term admirer of the WyndyMilla brand and products, from the active club community to the way the team has mastered custom carbon production over the last ten years,” Carr said.
“The brand has obvious parallels with what I set out to achieve in the Alps when I started developing the first bikes. By combining the two businesses and people within them, we will build a focused range of exciting best in class bikes, that are competitive at the highest levels of the sport, regardless of material choice.”
WM Paintworks, WyndyMilla’s existing in-house UK-based paint facility, will be rebranded and repositioned as an independent custom paint facility to the public and trade, taking advantage of the growth in demand for skilled, creative, innovative custom paint services. The business already has a number of ongoing contracts with independent bicycle brands and third party businesses and will grow this aspect of its operation in 2020 and beyond.
