Independent bike shop opens doors again after £40,000 ‘ram raid’ theft incident
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News
An independent bike shop has reopened its doors less than 24 hours after a ram raid saw around £40,000 worth of stock stolen and a further £50,000 in damage caused to the premises.
The incident took place in the early hours of Wednesday 1st April, when burglars drove a van into the front of the shop, smashing their way inside and making off with several high-value bikes, including premium road and electric models, while also causing extensive structural and display damage.
Despite the scale of the attack, the business, based in Fleet, Hampsdhire and a member of the ACT for over 10 years, moved quickly to recover and was trading again the following day, with the team working through the disruption.
Owner Craig Peters said he had been overwhelmed by the response from staff and the local community following the incident.
“When bad things happen, people can be very negative, but honestly the community has been amazing and my staff have been unbelievable,” he said. “If you let it get you down, you let them win. There are worse things happening — no one’s been hurt, and that’s what matters.
"I’ve got a really good team and we just focused on getting the doors open again. There’s obviously a lot to deal with, like insurance, but that can wait; the main thing was to keep going and not let it stop us.
“The community has been brilliant - it just shows how many good people there are out there. It’s been a bad situation, but the response has been incredible and we’re really grateful for that.
“If I’d asked the staff to stay all night and help sort things, they would have done it without hesitation. That’s the kind of people we’ve got here, and it makes a huge difference in a situation like this.”