Tarty Bikes Update!

It is with a great deal of sadness that we announce co-owner and director, Charlie Goddard, is leaving Tarty Bikes in March.

During our period of ownership, we have always tried to be as upfront and honest about how we run Tarty Bikes, we feel we owe that to the community who invests so much in us. The retail landscape in the UK, and internationally has been incredibly challenging these past three years, with external pressures of increasing prices, poor macroeconomic performance, difficulties in procuring stock and a general slow down of the cycle industry post Covid has all come along in relatively short order, forcing us to make some very difficult decisions.

At the end of tax year 2023/2024, we reached the conclusion that action was needed to further lower our overheads as much as possible to combat these pressures. This has meant focussing on key selling product lines, discontinuing some services, real terms staff pay cuts, and more recently rent reductions. The final tool in our arsenal is to reduce wages further, and by mutual agreement, Charlie has agreed to step back from the business, and resign as director. Charlie has written a brief statement:

“The last few years have been extremely tough, with rising costs and a steady decline in sales. At the start of 2025 we found ourselves having to make some very tough decisions, as the business was no longer able to support both Ben and I. After many discussions, we both agreed that the best thing for the business was for one of us to step down, and the other to take over as the sole director. Ben’s connections within the trials community, his passion for the sport, and his current role made him the obvious choice to be the one to take on the task of keeping Tarty Bikes going. So it is with a heavy heart that I announce my resignation from Tarty Bikes. The last 3 years have been an incredible journey, and I will look back at my time at Tarty with great pride. I want to thank the trials community for being so welcoming, and supporting us through our time as owners. I also want to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to Adam for giving me such an amazing opportunity, and for trusting me with the business he built over almost 20 years.

Finally, I want to say thank you to Ben. It has been a genuine pleasure working with you, and I am so grateful for your support over the last 4 and a half years. I wish you all the best in your continued efforts, and I truly hope you and Tarty Bikes, get through this rough patch, and continue to support trials for many years to come.”

Charlie Goddard

This isn’t a decision we’ve taken lightly, but we see no other choice in order to put the business, current and future, on a stable footing. With myself (Ben) continuing to run Tarty Bikes as the sole director, we’ve given myself enough leeway to navigate these difficult times, and to ensure the business remains trading, and supporting our community.

I am passionate about trials, the community, and the service we offer. I want to do everything possible to make sure Tarty Bikes comes through, and does not join the ever-increasing list of closed businesses in the UK. Your continued support makes this possible, and I remain extremely grateful for every order that comes through our system, no matter the size.

This will be the first time Tarty Bikes has been run by a single individual, and it will mean some changes to how I operate to maintain the level of service I expect to deliver, I have outlined these changes below:

Orders – These will remain unchanged. Orders will ship within the delivery windows quoted. Historically, we’ve been faster at turning around orders, often making shipment with only minutes to go before courier collection. Moving forward, we will be strictly sticking to our order cut off times, so please make sure to get those orders in within those time limits!

Bike builds – All bikes will now ship on the Friday of every working week the business is open, or the final day of collections when the business will be closed for planned periods, such as staff holidays, and public holidays. This means if you order an in stock bike on Tuesday, it may not ship until the following Friday, taking into account the workshop lead time during busy periods. Special order bikes will not ship until the Friday following their delivery to us, taking into account workshop lead times. We build every bike to a full ride ready standard, de-stressing and re-tensioning wheels, facing frames / forks where necessary, and removing / re-installing components that require it for the perfect fit and operation. This is a level of service I am not willing to compromise, as it gives our customers the best possible experience. This new timetable will ensure I have the time to give every bike the attention it needs before shipping.

Phone response – I will try to answer the phone as quickly and often as I can, but this may not always be possible during busy periods. I kindly ask, that any general queries are sent via email to tartybikes@gmail.com, and any orders are placed online, if you can. I completely understand that speaking to an actual human is sometimes preferred, and if I miss your call, I will call you back as soon as possible. Email response time will remain the same, and social media response will remain the same. I plan to have a WhatsApp contact up and running shortly, to streamline customer communication.

Lunchtime closure – The business will be closed during 12pm and 1pm GMT for lunch, Monday to Friday. During this time, there will be no phone or email response, and for customers attending in person, the entrance will be locked to give me time to eat my lunch!

Staff holidays – With all this extra work, I’ll definitely need the occasional holiday! During these periods, the business will be closed completely. No orders will ship until the business is open again, no special orders will be processed until my return, and there will be no email or phone response (but you will of course still be able to place orders online). Business closure will be announced at minimum a week in advance on the home page, and on social media so you will have plenty of time to plan your orders.

Personal contact and social media – I have close personal relationships with many customers, and they sometimes choose to contact me through my personal social media accounts. From the date of Charlies departure, this will end, and I will no longer respond to business related queries via my personal social media. This will make it easier and more efficient for me to answer your questions, rather than jumping between accounts.

Workshop services and repairs – Some workshop services, and products relating to them, will no longer be available. This won’t affect RD parts, or any other current custom service on the Tarty Bikes site. Workshop jobs such as bicycle repair will be done entirely at my discretion, depending on how busy I am at the time. I’ll do my best to help where and when I can.

All of the above information will be available in our Terms and Conditions shortly within their respective categories for future reference. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them!

Thank you for your continued support,

Ben

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