We launched our first graduate scheme in 2021 and welcomed our first grads, Caitlin and Niamh, in April of that year. Caitlin had decided to pursue a career in the cycling industry after finding a love for competitive cycling and Strava QOM-hunting during her time at Swansea University studying Sports Materials. Niamh found cycling through a love of the outdoors and sleeping in bushes, using her bike as a tool to explore. After studying at Cambridge University, she wanted to apply her Chemical Engineering degree to bikes over pipes, and both Grads saw the scheme as a fantastic opportunity within The Rider Firm. 

Caitlin and Niamh joined The Rider Firm with limited working experience after their ‘COVID’ graduations. We believed that their enthusiasm would push them to develop in their roles and become invaluable assets to our business. They found that dipping your toes in and working with all different parts of the business is crucial to helping you perform at your best. 

Their introduction to the company took the form of a stint in our Customer Service team, where they gained an appreciation of our dedication to serving the rider in all we do. This also gave them the opportunity to get to know our products inside-out, using this information to produce resources for training future team-members. After Customer Service, Niamh and Caitlin spent time in a wealth of other teams, including: 

• Supply Chain 
• Supporting Team Innovation and Growth (our STIG team) 
• E-Commerce 
• Product Development 

• Finance 
• Engineering (bike and wheel)
   

Each rotation brought new challenges and opportunities for development and growth. Caitlin completed training in Google Analytics and employed these skills to revolutionise the way we interact with our customers on web platforms. In the meantime, Niamh worked with our Tech team to develop and implement an online portal to facilitate, log and resolve Technical Support Requests from our riders, across Privateer and Cairn. 

On finishing the scheme both Niamh and Caitlin moved into permanent roles. Niamh as a Project Manager in the Engineering team and Caitlin as a Merchandise Planning Manager in the Commercial team.  

Meet Stan. When he first joined The Rider Firm, he had just taken his last exams at university and was eager to start his career in the cycling industry. He applied for a position we then had as Customer Service & Dispatch and did this for the first few months when we were only 12 people. 

After showing interest in getting involved in other areas of the business, Stan became increasingly involved in our operations and e-commerce systems, and after 4 years in the The Rider Firm, he has settled into his role as Systems Manager - Operations & E-Commerce, and one of the faces of STIG. He makes sure our processes are efficient and tailored to our customers' needs.