Distributor in the spotlight – meet Dave Hawkes

Continuing our ‘Distributor in the spotlight’ series, where we learn more about the people who make up our International MERIDA family, our second stop finds us in Nottingham at MERIDA UK. We have already spoken to Chris Carter, the Managing Director (full story here), who in his spare time is a self-confessed petrolhead and roadie, so now we will meet Dave Hawkes, who is the UK Service and Warranty Manager. Dave loves his Friday lunchtime treats of dirty burgers or pizzas, lives for mountain biking with his mates and the occasional endurance challenge, all in aid of charity….

Who are you?
I am Dave Hawkes, Service and Warranty Manager at MERIDA UK.

What is your job title and what is a typical working day like?
Well, my official job title is UK Service and Warranty Manager, but as we are a small team I am flexible and help out where and when I am needed. Most of the time I am dealing directly with dealers, very occasionally directly with end consumers. Typically, my day involves providing support for any warranty and technical queries that come through and liaising with colleagues in Taiwan, but to be honest, the warranty work is not a full-time role, not even part-time, due to the high quality of the product. My day often involves answering the phone at the customer service desk, either taking orders, payments or stock checks and then helping to dispatch stock from the small warehouse we have.

When I first started here the technical queries I dealt with related to road, crossways and hybrid bikes. Whereas now I am answering technical queries about e-bikes, ONE-SIXTY and the full suspension bikes, which are much more complex as our products develop. I like having the challenge, and every day is varied, which keeps me on my toes!

How long have you been with the company and what was your starting position?
This year I will celebrate my 10th anniversary of working here at MERIDA UK. I started as part of the internal customer service team before taking over the warranty role 6 years ago. Prior to MERIDA, I was working in retail management – a company called ‘Do it all’ that sold all things DIY, and I wore a red t-shirt and yellow dungarees, thankfully the MERIDA t-shirts and hoodies are a little more tasteful! I also spent many years working as a retail sales manager in retail outlets on university campuses, but I wasn’t getting the job satisfaction I craved. I have always been into cycling – starting with BMX riding as a kid and got into mountain biking when the sport developed. So when I saw the advert for the job here at MERIDA I jumped at it as I was really keen to work in the bike industry. I love working here and being part of the cycling scene.

Does your interest in cycling help you in your day-to-day work?
Absolutely, if a warranty bike comes in with an issue, being a rider helps me to work out how it could have happened and if is a manufacturing, material or user error. I vet the issue, but of course, MERIDA Taiwan has the final say on how it is managed. So, if the conclusion is that there is not a valid warranty issue, I have the task of telling the customer, which, as you can imagine, is my least favourite part of the job!

We have seen an increase in e-bikes around the world. What is the use of e-bikes in the UK (leisure and sport)?
We have seen an explosion of e-bike usage in the UK, to the point that analogue bikes are now almost in the minority. Even at dedicated bike parks with uplift services like Bike Park Wales e-bike users are using the uplift too, I guess if they only have one bike it will be an e-bike so they use it for every kind of riding they do. Initially, I must admit I saw it as ‘cheating’ when they first came on the scene, but as soon as you use one, you understand the positive impacts it can have. It is perfect if you are short on time, my mates and I can do an evening ‘power hour’ ride with lots of climbs and technical descents and then meet our wives at the pub for food, we wouldn’t have got the same experience out of riding an analogue bike for an hour. I like to keep riding analogue as well to maintain my fitness, but when I am going on group rides, if all my mates are on e-bikes, it is not much fun for them if they have to wait for me, so it is a case of ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’. In the last 10 months, I have predominantly been riding my e-bike and I love it.

I think the e-leisure market is way behind other European countries where they have a much more established infrastructure, but we are getting there slowly, in fact my father-in-law has an e-leisure bike for getting to the shops and he loves it!

What other key bikes are significant for the UK market?
The UK has always had a strong road and mountain biking scene, and you see that from the various Tour de France and downhill racing successes we’ve had over the years with Brad Wiggins or Steve Peat for example. The BIG.TRAIL was conceived from feedback from our UK consumers for a hardtail that was easy to maintain for winter riding and was also affordable. The gravel market is also a fast-growth area here too with the SILEX of course fitting the bill for gravel riding.

You are part of the Nottingham office-based team here, do you have any fun activities that you guys do together from time to time?
Well, I believe Chris Carter told you about ‘Pizza Friday’, but the precursor to this was ‘Dirty Burger Friday’, and my claim to fame is that I started it! In our previous workplace, we had a burger van outside, so dirty burgers were the Friday lunchtime treat. This then developed into ‘Pizza Friday’, where we had a mobile pizza van visit, which made amazing log-fired pizzas. It became such a tradition that our customers knew not to phone us on a Friday lunchtime!

It is always difficult to get together as a whole team as the sales guys work remotely but we tend to get together at least 3-4 times a year for sales meetings, we’ll have a meal out together and depending on the time of year a ride too. I also help with demos and events were possible, and that’s always a great opportunity to work with various people I wouldn’t normally get the chance to spend time with.

What kind of riding do you do?
I would classify myself as a mountain biker, but I did race downhill back in the day, and now I do enduro riding around the country. Working here I get the opportunity to try different bikes which means I am not averse to some big miles on the road, a bit of Audax adventure riding and more recently more time spent on the e-bike too, but I am happiest when I am out on the muddy trails with my mates. I had a period when I did a lot of road riding as I was training for an event. When I got back on my mountain bike, I was riding my local trails and came to a corner where I got it completely wrong. I remember summersaulting over the bars and seeing the bike coming towards me, as I braced for impact, I thought to myself ‘this is just brilliant’ and that sums up why I love mountain biking.

What is your favourite bike in MERIDA’s range (past or present)?
I have always had a soft spot for the ONE-FORTY range, my first MERIDA was a lime green 2016 ONE-FORTY 900 - a fun and capable bike. I raced it abroad, did bike park days and rode it in the Peak District – you could do anything on that bike. In fact, Andrew (UK sales rep) and I starred in the ONE-FORTY MERIDA promotional video from a few years ago filmed up in the Peak District. I’ve got a ONE-SIXTY 700 now which is my ‘go to’ bike. Again, I ride it on all terrains – here and abroad.

What is your favourite MERIDA bike and have you made any alterations to make it ‘yours’?
My wife will tell you I have too many bikes…. but my favourite is my ONE-SIXTY 700. The only changes I have made to it are adding the Fox 36 forks, Burgtec grips and Mazza Tyres, everything else is just perfect!

We know you get involved in a bit of racing. What kind of racing do you do, and what are your favourite events?
As I said earlier, I used to do a bit of downhill racing at a regional level all over the UK. I have also raced enduro for many years, I am now in the old buggers category: ‘Grand Vets’. I did say last year would be my last, but then I ended up on the podium at THE MERIDA EX and in the mini enduro at the Forest of Dean, so, as there is still life in the old dog, and I am still enjoying it - I decided I would give it another year. I have a few events planned for this year: I am heading out to France for Enduro2 in the summer and hopefully getting back down to the THE MERIDA EX again, it’s definitely the best enduro race in the UK!

You also put your bike riding to good use. What charity rides and challenges have you done over the years?
In the last 10 years, I’ve done maybe six cycling challenges, trying to raise money and awareness for charities that are close to my heart. One was Macmillian Cancer Support after my dad passed away and the other was for Multiple Sclerosis Cymru as I lost my best mate Tom to this disease. I think to date I have helped to raise close to £25,000. In 2022 I cycled the Welsh Coast to Coast to Coast, just under 400 miles/6650m of climbing in under 36 hours non-stop on my SCULTRA ENDURANCE. MERIDA kindly documented it with a video, which gave me great memories to keep. Last year, again, I was back over to Wales, this time the Welsh Coast to Coast, 200 miles off-road on a ONE-TWENTY, first with a group of friends over 4 days and then the following weekend in 35 hours non-stop by myself. On both occasions supported by our MD Chris Carter for the night shift to keep me company in the dark wee small hours. But you’ll be glad to know I won’t be pestering people this year for donations to another crazy event, although I am planning an Everest challenge on my mountain bike in the summer, but that’s just for fun…well, type two fun!!!!!

What other interests and hobbies do you have off the bike?
I am lucky enough to live just outside the Peak District, which is a beautiful part of the country, so if I am not riding there, I’m out most weekends with my wife Jen walking in the Peaks.

You’ve been with MERIDA UK for several years, so it can’t be a bad place to work. What do you like most about working here and with the MERIDA brand?
I love working here; we are a small team and there is great camaraderie in the team and with our customers. I love the fact that every day is different and unpredictable, and every day is a school day as I learn something new. The bike industry advancements in technology and componentry keep me on my toes and interested in my job. 

Any riding/bike tips for your fellow cyclists?
Just enjoy it, it’s not always about the bike but where the bike can take you….oh, and always carry a zip tie just in case!

Given the chance for a little bike adventure of your choosing (money no object), where would you go and who would you like to take along for the ride?
I would have to say my bucket list location for mountain biking would be Queenstown in New Zealand. Of course, I would take my wife Jen with me, but equally, on a good weather day here in the UK, you can’t beat your local trails!

Talking to Dave it is clear he is passionate about cycling and very proud to be working for MERIDA, this enthusiasm must be infectious for the customers he talks to during his working day. When talking about the charity fundraising rides, he became emotional as the charities are very close to his heart, and each ride has been both a physical and mental challenge for him and, in some way, has no doubt helped him to grieve for the people he has lost. Pretty inspirational we would say, as his mug says ‘what a difference a Dave makes’.

Join us for the third and final instalment from the MERIDA UK team in our news section, where we will be getting to know Tobias Maher, the UK Marketing Manager. Unlike most of the people we have met so far, he comes from a football rather than a cycling background, juggles his busy home life with three young children and work, but still finds time to tickle the ivories occasionally.