Q&A with International Account Manager, Troy Kniveton

This week we sit down with our International Account Manager, Troy Kniveton at our International Head Office in Bournemouth, to find out a little more about him, his vision for REID internationally and what he does to unwind…

So, Troy, tell us a little about yourself…

Hey, I’m Troy, I’m 31  and was born in Devon but grew up in Somerset in a little place called Wells. I spent most of my childhood outside building ramps to jump over on, either by bike, skateboard or roller blades or creating downhill bike trails on the local hill. I went to University in Bristol and graduated with a Business degree. I opted to travel the world with friends rather than join the rat race and to date that was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I love to see, meet and explore new countries and cultures, we live on an incredible planet and it’s important to get out and see it with your own eyes. I travelled for 8 months around America, South Pacific, Australasia, Indonesia and South East Asia before then returning to New Zealand to watch the 2010 Rugby World Cup. I ended up staying in New Zealand for 5 years and can honestly say I fell in love with the country. It has everything a country could ever wish for and more. It was, therefore, a hard decision to leave NZ but I felt that I would never be happy to be a Skype uncle and so, therefore, decided to return to England. I bought my own apartment in a place called Southbourne which is a suburb of Bournemouth and I live 5 mins away from the beach which is lovely. Although I miss NZ very much I appreciate being close to my friends and family in the UK.

How did you get involved with REID?

I joined REID Bikes in September 2016 after returning from the 5 years of living in New Zealand. I found the job online, applied and remember getting a phone call from Rob whilst I was doing some food shopping explicitly telling me of the travelling involved in the role. My first day was a week after accepting the job and involved being picked up at 4:00 AM to be driven to Heathrow to board a flight to Switzerland en route to Eurobike. That day I met several existing distributors and ended up visiting 3 countries (Switzerland, Germany and Austria). I then make my own way back from Austria to Switzerland using public transport and then fly back to England and caught a bus from Heathrow to Bournemouth! It was certainly an eventful and jam-packed first few days into my employment with REID but that is what I thrive on.

How have you expanded REID internationally since you started?

Since joining REID in August 2016, I have introduced the brand to 9 new countries and we are now available on every continent. The 9 new countries are Chile, UAE, France, South Korea, Argentina, Canada, Denmark, Norway and South Africa.

Where do you see REID going in the future?

I certainly feel that we have barely scratched the service of the potential that Europe holds for us and hope to continue growing the REID brand within this market via both existing and new partners. I feel we have a great platform for growth in the middle east and from that, I then want to expand into India. I also want to continue to grow our presence in South America and enter central America.

What’s an average day in the life of Troy Kniveton?

I wake up at 6 Am every morning and check emails as due to the time difference I will get a lot of answers/questions via emails overnight. I try to avoid replying to these emails first thing as I feel that I need to give my mind a chance to wake up before I ask it to do too much so I chose to read all the unread emails and then I can contemplate the responses whilst I get ready. I usually get into the office for 06:50 and will make a cup of coffee or tea whilst my computer loads up. After that my day will vary between speaking to our factories to ensure the orders are on track and correct, speaking to existing distributors to answer any questions they may have or figure a plan to help increase sales productivity within their market and finally prospecting for new distributors in markets we have not entered. I then finish at 16:00 when I will then head to the gym and do some exercise before heading home to cook some dinner and watch any live sport on that night or a Netflix film/series.

So, now the important stuff, what bike(s) do you ride?

I ride a REID Urban X2. I use it regularly to ride to my friends or families houses locally or to go on the odd 20km ride around the Somerset countryside visiting many Pubs and Cider farms en route. I think it’s a great solid commuter that looks great.

How do you like to unwind after a week of work?

The simple answer would be by having a drink.

The slightly longer answer would be by watching live sport, playing golf and socialising with my friends and family. I lived in New Zealand for 5 years so I enjoy spending quality time with close friends and family is very important to me.

Which countries would you most like to get REID into?

I don’t really have a priority market if I’m honest as I appreciate and get excited when entering any new market regardless of size or potential. For REID to be successful we must see our growth as a long term objective and therefore I welcome any and every new market that wants to be part of this journey.

What are your relationships like with our current Distributors?

I think this may be a better question to ask them rather than myself but I’d like to think that I have a very positive relationship with all my distributors. This is certainly what they lead me to believe anyway. I certainly appreciate every one of my current distributors and very much enjoy working with all of them and supporting them all to help grow the REID brand internationally.

You can have the best product in the world but if no one knows about it then it is redundant. My distributors are the voice of the brand to get our bikes onto the retail floors and in front of the end customers eyes. I appreciate the work they do on this very much and hope to support them as much as possible to make their jobs easier on this.

Finally, what advice would you give to none or novice cyclist out there?

Ride a REID.

If you’d like to become a REID Distributor or would like to find out more about us, get in contact with Troy at troy@reidbikes.com