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Cycling Sports Group UK is now totally up and running with the supply of Cannondale bikes for the UK market. The Poole headquarters is now home to Cannondale’s Northern Territory Manager Steve Howes and Cannondale Brand Manager Mike Cotty.
Mike Cotty’s new job title is CSG’s UK Marketing Manager. Two new territory managers will be recruited for the South East and South West who join Steve Howes to strengthen the road sales force and exclusively sell Cannondale. The Cannondale team is also to be boosted with other new hires, including a purchasing manager, a graphic designer, two office-based telesales assistants and a finance manager.
CSG joint MD Russell Merry said: "We have been working feverishly since the start of October to plan this first day. It’s been a steep learning curve as we train our staff on the Cannondale model range and technology as well as loading back-orders and stock-codes on to our system.
"We planned for a soft-launch which is why we chose February to begin but we have been busy this morning and taken our first bike orders. We expect some teething troubles but we are confident that this is a new beginning for Cannondale. Cannondale is our premium brand which compliments our existing CSG UK portfolio really well and we expect to go from strength to strength as an organisation.
Mike Cotty – who stars in Cyclefilm’s Cannondale-sponsored Etape du Tour DVDs – said: "This is an exciting opportunity for me personally. I have enjoyed great times with Cannondale.
"Giving dealers access to a UK service operation to provide support, sales and logistics will create a new confidence that will see us build our dealer base. We will have a UK specific marketing and advertising budget and expect that to help drive sales to dealers’ doors as a result of the higher brand profile."
Neil Merry, brother of Russell and fellow joint MD of Cycling Sports Group UK said:
"The Poole office is a great place to work, a great team spirit and atmosphere. We are looking to strengthen our team as we strive to be amongst the best suppliers in the UK industry. We will build on our success with the brands that we bought over from the original Hot Wheels business and add Cannondale into our mix. Exciting times ahead."
