Handmade bicycle brand WyndyMilla has appointed Chris Houghton as the company’s new CEO and Dani Rowe MBE as its latest brand ambassador.
The announcements come as the brand details its intentions for considerable growth in 2019 and beyond; further cementing its position as The Kings and Queens of custom performance bikes.
WyndyMilla was founded in 2009 by Henry Furniss and Nasima Siddiqui, who shared a passion for performance, a relentless focus on quality and a deep rooted belief that custom is king.
Each frame build starts with an in depth bike fit by WyndyMilla’s chief engineer, to ensure exacting size and geometry, and ends with a unique custom paintwork from WyndyMilla’s in-house state of the art paint studio. Each made to measure bike is designed, painted and built in the Surrey Hills, with the frame lovingly handmade to the millimetre in Venice, Italy.
Chris Houghton arrives from energy challenger brand OVO Energy, where he served as CEO of the Retail business.
The Bristol-based supplier, which has 1.5 million customers in the UK, focuses on harnessing innovation and technology to make energy “cheaper and greener”. It has experienced consistent and exponential growth since its inception and has firmly established itself as the main challenger to the Big Six firms. It was today announced that Mitsubishi Corporation is taking a 20 per cent stake in OVO Energy. The deal values the energy challenger at around £1bn. Houghton, who earlier in his career became one of the youngest Financial Directors of a FTSE 250 company, was responsible for masterminding OVO Energy’s sponsorship of cycling, including the Women’s Tour and Tour of Britain.
Dani Rowe MBE, three times a world champion and Olympic Gold Medalist in the women’s team pursuit, will also join WyndyMilla as its latest brand ambassador. Following on from her bike fit earlier this month, Rowe will be riding WyndyMilla’s Saw Doctor Aero Road and Massive Attack Track bikes in 2019.
Rowe, who ended her career on a high with a Bronze model in the women’s road race at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, remains a regular cyclist and keeps fit in conjunction with running her own cycling coaching business along with her husband Matt Rowe and brother-in-law and Team Sky Pro Luke Rowe.
In 2019, Rowe will run the Virgin Money London Marathon, ride the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and swim the two miles at Swim Serpentine to complete the iconic London Classics, the ultimate mass participation challenge.
Chris Houghton, CEO of WyndyMilla, said: “WyndyMilla is a business I have long admired. The time is right for me to step into the business and help it reach its potential. 2019 will be an incredibly exciting year for us, as we invest in further developing our product offering and customer experience, alongside opening new retail sites and expanding our dealer network. We will be relentless in our quest to offer the best possible custom experience for cyclists globally.
“There aren’t many businesses in cycling with the personality and creativity of WyndyMilla. With our own paint studio in Surrey, we’re here to offer something different for the customer that appreciates the benefit of a made-to-measure and custom-designed performance bike. As a brand in cycling for ten years now, we plan to grow the awareness and community surrounding WyndyMilla considerably.”
Dani Rowe MBE, WyndyMilla Brand Ambassador, added: “As a professional cyclist there are always compromises when it comes to what bike and components you get to ride and use. To finally be able to have a bespoke WyndyMilla bike which is perfectly fitted to me is a dream. I can’t wait to get out and ride it and I’m looking forward to working with WyndyMilla to develop their products even further.”
Henry Furniss, co-founder of WyndyMilla, said: “I’m delighted that Chris and Dani have joined WyndyMilla in their respective roles. With Chris’ arrival, WyndyMilla finally has the leadership we need to scale, combined with a team that live and breathe the soul of the brand. This appointment means I can focus on my strengths in developing the brand’s direction and voice.”
