Raleigh have recently opened a flagship Cyclelife store in Nottingham, which has received a very positive response from those Raleigh dealers who have visited the store.

We trust that the Nottingham site will act as template for the 21st century retailing principles that all Cyclelife stores aim to work to.

Benefits to members of the Cyclelife Partnership are immediate, valuable and long-lasting.

• Best terms status for all purchases of Raleigh’s cycles and accessory ranges
• Financial support to develop a member’s store infrastructure
• Financial support to advertise and promote the business
• Membership of a retail forum aimed at sharing best practise and improving profitability

In summary, the mission of the Cyclelife Partnership is to ensure ongoing improvements to member’s profitability by improving retail standards, driving footfall in store and ensuring promotion of the business in a highly cost effective manner.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What fees do I have to pay to become a member?
No fees as such, just place a significant proportion or all of your operational spend with Raleigh on bikes and accessories, on their best terms. Raleigh will charge a levy of 1.5% of your spend to fund marketing activity.

How is the marketing fund managed?
Raleigh will charge a minimum levy of 1.5% of spend on product purchases – which they will match – to be used to promote Cyclelife. How and on what the fund is spent will develop over time as the network grows, but at all times members will be involved in the process of creating and managing the marketing program.

Am I locked in to buying only from Raleigh?
Cyclelife can only be supported by Raleigh where we have a significant level of purchases from a dealer. That said, we will agree brand exceptions with a prospect member where there is clear and non-conflicting business logic. These exceptions are reviewed jointly periodically.

What happens if Raleigh are out of stock?
Raleigh do recognise that stock and availability management is an imperfect science and thus members are enabled to purchase substitute product from alternate sources following discussion with Raleigh, Members can financially benefit from placing advance orders to secure future supply.

Do I get told how to run my business?
No. While a clear objective of the Cycelife Partnership is to improve general standards in cycle retailing, this will be achieved as much through sharing of best practise as it will be through the provision of retail procedures.

How is store development managed?
Raleigh will agree with each member an ongoing plan for store development to a joint timescale and budget. In a harsh retail climate investment has to be spent effectively – we won’t try and fix what isn’t broken.

What geographic exclusivity can I expect as a Cyclelife member?
Raleigh’s objective is allow members an element of geographic exclusivity – as they do with multi-franchise Main Dealers.

How many Cyclelife members will there be?
Our medium term objective is to establish a network of 250 members to ensure critical mass on a national basis. Such a network will complement long-established multi-franchise Main Dealers – not replace them. It is worth remembering that the original Raleigh 5 Star dealer network had over 500 members at it’s peak.

I have an established trading name in the area, must I lose this?
No. While it is an obvious objective of the Partnership to have stores carrying Cyclelife livery, a member’s historic trading name can be incorporated into signage et al.