BikeExchange CEO Resigns, Effective Immediately

Mark Watkin, the current CEO of Bike Exchange, will step down, with the Co-Founder and current Board member, Sam Salter, taking over as the acting CEO until they find a permanent replacement.

Watkin was named the global CEO of BikeExchange in 2017.

The search for a new CEO will begin immediately, the business shared.  Watkin will remain with the company in the short term, to ‘ensure a smooth handover’ of the responsibilities.

“As an investor and shareholder in BikeExchange, I remain a strong supporter of the company, its people and strategy,” he said. “I’d like to thank all the team for their work over the last five 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.

Sam Salter, the interim CEO, will focus on ‘driving strategic partnerships with major industry brands’, read the statement.

This isn’t where the executive shake-up ends. Ryan McMillan, who has been in the business for over a decade has been promoted to the COO. McMillan founded the business’ European region and is ‘deeply attuned’ to the business.

“Over recent years Ryan has fine-tuned our EU operations, leading the region to become our most successful and highest performing. It is this operating model that we are rolling out globally, led by Ryan,” said Salter of McMillan’s promotion to COO.

Furthermore, Taylor Essick, the Co-Founder and CEO of Kitzuma, will extend his role across the North America region to the combined BikeExchange and Kitzuna businesses. Essick will focus on the industry, sales, and strategy across the business.

Bike Exchange’s shares over the last five days have increased 11.11 percent. Power Retail will update the share price for BEX in the coming hours.

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