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Exquisitely British - The British Entrepreneur Club for Luxury Brands
An Interview with...
Keith Peek
Co-founder of Eureka Cycle Sports & The Eureka Cafe
By Clare Heighway - 9th January 2014
We chat to Keith Peek, co-founder of Chester's Eureka Cafe and Eureka Cycle Sports.
Tell us about what yourself Keith?
I am Keith Peek and together with my wife Anne own Eureka Cycle Sports and the Eureka Café. The café is one of the very few original cyclists café in the UK and dates back to 1928. After a career as a biochemist we took on the café business 13 years ago. After 5 years we opened the cycle shop.
Where did the idea to open Eureka Cycle Sports come from?
It really sprung out of the café and a redundancy. We had been selling cycle spares in the café and had witnessed the increasing popularity of cycle. When the redundancy came it seemed like an obvious route to take, although far removed from my scientific training.
Who is your ideal customer?
Any customer that has some loyalty and can see the value of what we are adding. Whether that involves the purchase of £5 inner tube or a £5000 bike, it doesn’t matter. We will go out of our way and extra mile for these people. If they are solely concerned with price then the internet is the place for this type of shopper.
What's been your biggest challenge?
Running two business has been the hardest challenge. Running one was easy but two is definitely more than double the work.
What's been your biggest highlight?
Seeing the café develop and grow from the rather sorry state in which we took it over. It’s also been great to establish the shop in what is a very competitive market.
What or who are you inspired by?
Charles Darwin, David Attenborough, Jacque Coustaeu and anybody that strives to educate, conserve and understand the world we live in and the creatures that inhabit it.
Do you have any advice for other entrepreneurs?
Be realistic about your business expectations - small steps are better than big ones that can leave you financially exposed and scrambling to cope. Also, build an infrastructure that provides good service.
What does your "typical" work day look like?
Our daughter Holly bakes the cakes for the café on 2 days of the week and my wife is generally working in the café or shopping for it. My day starts with a discussion with the bike mechanic as to the days workshop requirements. For the rest of the day I am either serving customers, performing bike fits, preparing custom build quotes and answering emails. If there is any spare time I will be working on our website and social media platforms to raise our online profile.
Do you have any favourite British brands?
Yes, I am particularly fond of Sabbath bicycles. It’s a UK firm based only 30miles away in Macclesfield and they specialise in making titanium frames. I have two Sabbath’s that I either ride to work on or use on my days off.
What do you think is important in developing a successful British brand?
I think for any product it ideally has to have a manufacturing base in the UK and it’s quality and or service has to far exceed what can be mass-produced in the Far East or by bigger UK based outlets. It also helps if there is some history behind the brand. Not an easy thing to achieve nowadays.
How do you manage the work/life balance?
At the moment we don’t have the right balance and there are times when we feel the business is running us. I think you have to accept this until the business is in a position to take on more people and relieve some of the work load. However, we always take one day a week off and usually spent it walking our 2 dogs out in the countryside.
What are your plans for the future?
Develop our online presence for the shop and open a second café.
For more information on Eureka Cycle Sports visit them at www.eurekacyclesports.co.uk
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