Lee Kidger - Leading iconic bike brand Raleigh UK

Nottingham Business School Business Leaders

Lee Kidger was made Managing Director of Raleigh UK during the first coronavirus lockdown – at the age of just 31.

He joined the world’s best-known bike brand as an account manager, less than ten years ago.

Today he runs a company whose last annual accounts show it turned over £38m.

“The opportunity certainly came earlier than I expected,” he tells the Business Leaders’ podcast.

So early, in fact, that Lee is still studying for his MBA at Nottingham Business School.

Lee first fell in love with both bikes and business, while working on the tills at his local Halfords store, in Essex.

Now – aged 31, cycling for fun, in an urban environment – he typifies the type of customer Raleigh aims to attract.

“I’m the target audience for where Raleigh should be going,” he says.

Lee talks openly about taking a significant pay cut early in his career, to move into a job he knew he would enjoy more. Since then, he hasn’t looked back.

Raleigh once employed thousands of workers in huge Nottingham factories. Most of its bikes are now made in Europe and its Nottinghamshire headquarter has around 120 staff.

But Lee says Raleigh’s great history and heritage, is an opportunity rather than a challenge.

The customers who bought the iconic Choppers and Grifters in the 1980s – what he calls Raleigh’s long-standing ‘brand fans’ – are now spending thousands of pounds on gleaming new ebikes.

Lee believes ebikes, together with cargo bikes and the huge investment Government has pledged to build national cycling infrastructure, are helping to create a dynamic, innovative industry.

And as MD of Raleigh UK, he is in the right place, at the right time, to take advantage.

He says: “We’re in the midst of a Raleigh rebrand. Coming in the next 18 months to two years, will be some really exciting bikes that are going to be pushing the limits…

“As a business leader you have to be passionate about what you are doing. You have to come to work and really enjoy it.”