Muc-Off, the leading UK bike care & performance specialist has been able to make its bottle of fluorescent pink bike cleaner the go to option for 2 wheeled obsessives across the world. However, facing into a global pandemic, Muc-Off CEO Alex Trimnell shares his perspective on how doing business today is:
like taking part in the Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup, blindfolded. It’s going to take guts and resolve to get through it with a fair share of spills thrown in for good measure.
Alex is team captain at Muc-Off and believes brands either adapt or become extinct, very quickly. Based near the Jurassic coast, this is one business determined not to join the fossilised remains synonymous with the local geography. Be agile and adapt has been the guiding mantra behind building a convention busting brand across 85 different countries at the cutting edge of both Bicycle and Powersports. The brand traverses every discipline in their fields and is no sponsor spectator as it works on many technical development programmes which give teams a real edge in the competitive arena. Muc-Off always aims to punch above its weight. It was and still is a wholly owned young family business where big budgets and fat reserves of cash sit in the “one day, maybe” part of the business plan.
Watching the enormity of the pandemic play out across the world has been a nightmare on so many levels. Supply chains started slowing and then retail took a hit as lockdown started to grip the globe Alex comments.
Staying in is the new going out. Pelotons have vanished from sight; mountain bike trails were handed back to the wildlife and the motorcycle is out for essential travel only. The 2 wheeled world changed, literally overnight.
Faced with the quantum shift in human behaviour, Alex and the team created 2 short term goals; Keep the business going with the team intact and take the fight to Covid-19 by supporting front line key workers in the NHS.
We needed to manage our cash really carefully and balance the team to ensure that we could get to an operating structure where we weren’t slamming on the brakes whilst having enough gas in the tank to safeguard the future of the business and our people Alex comments on the short-term operating model of Muc-Off.
This phase of adaptation happened swiftly with team orders coming in clearly and decisively to preserve jobs, keep everyone safe and on track.
With the team set, Muc-Off put their support programme for the NHS into gear and buried the throttle. Within hours of making the call about the new plan, offers were out to multiple branches of the NHS offering immediate support. From swift offers came equally swift replies and suddenly thousands of anti-bacterial products were heading to nurses and paramedics across the UK.
We view our NHS support like racing. Get a strong start and then generate sustained momentum until the finish says Alex.
For this reason, Muc-Off has not only been deploying its initial support to the NHS, but a shed load more is yet to come. Bottle supplies have been diverted to help producers of sanitisers, Anti-bacterial moisturising creams (normally used for saddle soreness) are being used as moisturisers for ITU nurses to help with chaffing from their face masks, no stone is being left unturned as to how Muc-Off can support at this challenging time. Even the R&D team, who usually test chain lube efficiency, have turned their 3d printer to non-stop production of PPE faceguards for local hospitals. The business is also pledging to donate 100,000 anti-bac products to front line NHS workers as part of project now dubbed “Anti-Bac Fight Back”.
We created our Anti-Bac Fight Back programme to operate on 3 fronts. Alex Continues Supporting our front line workers, help people protect themselves and invest in the World Health Organisation to help whip Covid-19.
The innovation junkies at Muc-Off have created a new range of Anti-Bac sanitisers & gels to bust germ fests for personal, household and tech care. This new range has been fast tracked to get off the starting grid this month.
Much like their taste in music, Muc-Off love a good collab and have teamed up with Local distiller, Conker Spirit to provide bottles for sanitiser production destined for the NHS as well as working with Beryl Bikes, the British Bike Share Scheme, to clean up the act for NHS commuters across the country through supplies of anti-bac equipment cleaner.
Being a global player has meant that Muc-Off will also be playing its part in taking the fight to Covid-19 across the world. 10% of profits from its new range of anti-bac sanitisers & gels will be donated to the World Health Organisations Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
Full details of the Muc-Off Anti-Bac Fight back programme can be found at www.muc-off.com/covid19 where visitors will also have an opportunity to make donations to the World Health Organisation COVID-19 fund.
Source: Muc-Off UK
