Mark Watkin steps down as BikeExchange CEO
Global bike resale giant BikeExchange has announced the departure of CEO Mark Watkin, with co-Founder and current board member Sam Salter to step forward in the interim.
A search to begin immediately to source a replacement for Watkin, who after five years in the role wrote to his LinkedIn “now is the right time to move on from my role. It has been an absolute privilege to lead BikeExchange and I am proud of what we have achieved together during this time. I am particularly proud of our journey from a private company through a successful IPO to become a publicly listed company in 2021, which opened a new chapter and opportunities.”
There will be further changes to management under a new operating model previously disclosed.
Ryan McMillan has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer (COO). Ryan has been with BikeExchange for over ten years and founded its European region.
Taylor Essick, Co-Founder and CEO of Kitzuma will extend his role across the North American region to the combined BEX and Kitzuma businesses. Taylor has a deep knowledge of the industry and the opportunities that collectively exist across BEX and Kitzuma. Taylor will have particular focus on industry, sales and strategy across the business.
Watkin added: “As an investor and shareholder in BikeExchange, I remain a strong supporter of the company, its people and strategy. I’d like to thank all the team for their work over the last 5 years. I believe the future is very bright for BikeExchange, as it delivers on its mission of making it easy to buy and sell all things bike.”
The Melbourne-based online retailer last week inked a partnership with U.S. company SimplyEV, a more than 50 store strong EV chain selling eBikes, eScooters and eMotorcycles.
“This will be an important addition, given the journey, assembly and servicing of e-bikes can be a key difficulty in the customer journey,” Watkin said, prior to the departure news.
The company has not enjoyed life on the Australian Stock Exchange since its listing in February 2020; the share price hit a new 52-week low recently and the share price is, at the time of writing, 83.3% down year-on-year.
