After nearly 10 years of service to the cyclists of County Durham, Francis Myers will be pedalling off to Manchester for a new challenge.
Inspiral Cycles on Newgate Street has gained an excellent reputation for offering expert advice, high quality cycle repairs and servicing plus selling a wide range of new bicycles, including electric bikes. What customers haven’t always seen is the amount of hard work that goes on behind the scenes.
If you’ve asked Inspiral Cycles for any part or accessory for your bicycle, you have Francis to thank for his research and ordering, which has kept hundreds of local cyclists pedalling.
Fiona and Gary Ewing established the Bishop Auckland business, with Francis running day-to-day shop and back-office support, plus completing his nationally recognised Cytech apprenticeship for cycle maintenance in 2019.
Fiona said: “When we first opened our bicycle shop doors in 2015, Francis came in to visit. Not long afterwards he began to work for us, when we only had one small room as the shopfloor. We have now quadrupled in size, and give Francis credit for his consistent organisational skills, building our online presence, and the high quality of his administration which has built us into the celebrated shop we are today.”
Gary said: ”We don’t always celebrate the people who do the behind-the-scenes work and remember those who worked from home, especially during the Covid lockdowns, when Francis was able to keep our online shop open from home while we worked long hours in the shop.”
“Francis will be a loss to our shop and it will be difficult to fill his shoes, but we wish him all the best in his new bike shop manager role in Manchester.”
Inspiral Cycles are finalists again in this year’s English Independent Retail Awards after being nominated by their customers. The September award ceremony will actually be held in Manchester so Gary and Fiona can pop in to see Francis in his new role.
You can vote for Inspiral Cycles to be ‘Cycle Retailer of the Year’ at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TheEnglishIndependentRetailAwards2024-North.