BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Mobile bicycle repairs offer a monumanetally convenient solution for cyclists. The flexibility that comes with a rolling workshop combined with compact size and weight of the latest tools of the trade allow the latest generations of mechanics on the move to alomst completely tailor their service to the needs of the customer. One such brand that invested in the concept is London’s own NipNip. We sat down with company director Matthew Farr to dicuss how it became one of London’s premier mobile services.
Can you give us a brief overview of NipNip’s business?
“Today, we can truly say that NipNip is London’s most convenient bicycle repair and servicing operation. What started in 2013 as a small, family-run business is now London’s fastest growing cycle repair and servicing business. From day dot, it has always been our mission to keep cyclists safe and their two-wheeled companions performing to their best.”
How was the company started?
We remember the days when, with an Orange Vespa and a few tools under the ‘lift-up’ seat, we cycled through the streets of London, introducing prospective clients to NipNip. Our early meetings with facility managers at some of London’s most prestigious buildings and offices quickly revealed a real need for cyclists across the City to have access to a reliable and convenient bicycle repair and service solution. Our first corporate client was Tower 42 and have grown to over 300 other corporate organisations and buildings in London.
During our first few months of trading, we worked 24/7 to deliver on our promise of making top-notch bicycle and servicing easy for the time-poor Londoner. During this time, we forged long-term partnerships with great brands like Tannus Tyres, who appointed us as UK distributor for their puncture-less tyres.”
The brand has forged a successful path despite a turbulent time for the industry, how did you achieve this?
“We attribute our fast growth to our day-in, day-out relentless quest to do the best job possible on each and every bicycle we attend to. Also, our growth has been made possible through innovating new ways for busy Londoners to get easy and convenient access to cycle repairs and servicing. We call this: NipNip Your Way.
"NipNip Your Way enables cyclists to choose to have their cycle serviced and repaired in whichever way suits them best from our choice of three. First, a NipNip mechanic will fix their cycle at their home or place of work via NipNip Mobile. Alternatively, they can bring their cycle to the NipNip Servicing Hubin SE1. Or third, they can use NipNip Collect, our ‘collect, fix and return’ service, which launched in early 2016.
How do your clients find you?
We provide our repair and servicing solutions to individual cyclists wherever they are, but we also work with companies and buildings in London whose employees and occupants cycle to and from the premises. NipNip technicians set-up for a day in the location’s cycle park and fix en masse.”
But you do also operate out of a set location now too?
Shortly after we launched the NipNip brand, we secured workshop space in Southwark, SE1. Today, this is the NipNip Servicing Hub, from where we fix the bicycles brought in to us and from where we operate NipNip Mobile and NipNip Collect. The hub also acts as our training centre, for budding mechanics keen to learn from the best.
With such a flexible business, what’s next for NipNip?
“Well, you can rest assured that we’ll be staying ahead of the curb to bring cyclists the most convenient and best in repairs and servicing. With more and more people turning to cycling as an easy, ‘green’ and reliable mode of transport, we will have more work to do in ensuring bicycles are kept in tip top condition. We have plans to broaden our offering in terms of products and to broaden our geographical ‘tyre-print’. So watch this space!”
