Ribble Cycles appoints new CEO

Ribble Cycles has appointed Sean Hastings as its new CEO, effective 1 July, 2024. He joins from B2C Group, where he grew the business internationally, becoming one of Europe’s top-rated water sports retailers. 

Prior to that, he was chief customer officer at River Island and ran its online business. He has also been chief marketing officer at Pentland Brands.

Hastings said: “I’m thrilled to be joining Ribble, a business with such deep roots in cycling. I’m looking  forward to working with the team, building on the great product offer and taking the brand on the  next stage of its growth journey.” 

The group previously strengthened its board by appointing Becks DeNiro as chair last year. She has experience in product-led and brand driven organisations having been CEO at Pure Electric and MD of Dyson UK. 

Commenting on Hastings’ appointment, DeNiro said: “We are absolutely delighted that Sean is joining Ribble as CEO. The business has an exciting future ahead, and Sean’s extensive experience across product, brand and multi-channel retail will be invaluable as we embark on the next phase of our growth journey and lead innovation within cycling.” 

Following his appointment, current CEO Andy Smallwood will transition to a senior adviser role to help ensure continuity. The company said his contributions over the past seven years have been “instrumental in transforming Ribble into the innovative, customer and product-led cycling brand it is today”. 

Will Pearson, managing director at True, Ribble’s majority shareholder, said: “We want to thank Andy for everything he has achieved at Ribble over the past seven years. The business is almost unrecognisable from when Andy first joined and is now one of the strongest brands in cycling with a fantastic customer proposition and some of the best, award winning bikes in the world.”