This month Cycling Industries Europe caught up with Till Kraemer, Founder and CEO of Bike Business HUB, who also chairs our Innovation Network Expert Group. With more than 25 years of experience in talent sourcing, Till now helps businesses in the cycling industry to find their next best employee.
In this interview, Till talks about his vision of establishing mobility innovation hubs across Europe, what the industry could learn from Paris’ bold push for more cycling and why there’s a need for more women in the sector.
Can you tell me more about Bike Business HUB and your role?
I’m Till Kraemer, founder and CEO of Bike Business HUB, with more than 25 years of experience in recruitment, headhunting, talent sourcing, and career development in sports and cycling. Before Bike Business HUB, I had another business—a job platform for the sports industry that I founded in 2000. However, after a big change in my personal life, in 2016, I packed my bags and left Germany behind to live in Mallorca.
My focus completely shifted to the cycling industry in 2017. At Bike Business HUB, instead of just doing recruitment, we have a matchmaking approach; we are professional matchmakers in the active mobility industry.
When the pandemic came, I asked myself, “What am I really good at?” I concluded that I’m best at making connections and bringing people together. Around that time, I also realized that the cycling industry needs much more than just connecting companies and top talents. There’s a need for a service where startups can look for funding and where eventually investors will look for promising projects that they can invest in.
We help bike manufacturers, component companies or service businesses in the active mobility industry to get the crucial resources required to be successful entrepreneurs in difficult times: funds and good people.
What cycling trends are you most excited to see by the year 2030? And by 2050?
It’s hard for me to predict what will happen in 2050, but I think we need to celebrate cycling’s recent achievements in a difficult geopolitical landscape. I think if we look at Paris’ example, it’s fascinating to see what outcomes are possible by investing in cycling infrastructure and low-congestion zones in a relatively short time.
I think there is a lot to learn from big cities that have put cycling and sustainable transport on their road maps. It’s important that we start to think more in-depth about human-scale towns, where it’s easy to go from point A to point B in 15 minutes by cycling. A general trend that we will keep seeing is that investment in infrastructure really pays off, especially with the more widespread use of cargo bikes replacing vans in urban contexts.
Other trends that I hope will become more widespread in Europe include bike-to-school initiatives and leasing. I hope that more countries will realize the potential of leasing and what a big enabler it is to bring cycling to a larger scale.
What do you see as a major challenge in the cycling industry, and how can Cycling Industries Europe (CIE) play a role in overcoming that challenge?
The cycling industry needs to speak with one voice to the European Commission and other institutions. I would love to see the CIE membership increase to 400 or 500 companies, and more businesses realizing the potential within CIE.
We see that in the current geopolitical situation, there could be abrupt changes—not only on a European but on a national level too. We need to react to them together. Europe is looking into strengthening the “traditional” industries, which to a certain extent makes sense, but what we achived so far in the promotion of sustainable transport solution is in danger to loose the support, and we cannot allow that to happen.
I’d welcome more incentives to reshore production, but even more so to make Europe a thriving innovation hub for the active mobility sector. With our work in the Cycling Innovation Network, we work on fostering collaborative structures. I think it would be very beneficial to see more thriving cycling industry clusters in Europe such as Portugal Bike Value or CARA in France, and to create learning journeys between existing ones and new clusters.
As a side note, I think every place in Europe could strive to create a place of excellence. Therefore, I started an initiative to create MallorcaCyclingHUB – as an upcoming cycling cluster in Mallorca around cycling tourism and road cycling. So, the Balearic Island is part of an application in a consortium together with CIE and other regions for a European program to create more cycling clusters. We are making use of the knowledge and business models developed here in our international offering, but I could also mention the Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland. They built a cluster of excellence around mountain biking, which supported hundreds of companies to build and grow their businesses.
But before that, the cycling industry has some homework: it needs to professionalize to grab the big opportunity presented by the European Declaration on Cycling. We can only compete with other sectors, such as automotive and maritime, with stronger collaboration. Raising the standards should not only be on CIE’s roadmap but on each company's. We cannot just be busy with other topics; everyone should focus on the strategic, long-term goals.
What or who in the cycling industry inspires you, and why?
If I think of a person, it would probably be Kevin Mayne, CIE’s ex-CEO. I always found him to be a very inspiring person to talk to; the way he has been able to connect people was tremendously inspiring for the industry in general.
On the other hand, just thinking about the benefits of cycling itself is inspiring for me. Riding a bicycle improves your health, lowers your carbon footprint, and is a very sustainable mode of transport. On a social level, you connect with people, it makes you more aware of your environment, reduces noise levels, and makes the streets more human-centered—a more democratic place, something that we have lost with the rise of the automobile.
Can you describe in around five words how cycling is saving the world?
It improves health, the environment, and social life.
Can you tell us a bit more about the planned Summit Series event? What convinced you to support a new event that aims to disrupt the traditional cycle of cycling events?
As a headhunter, I know firsthand that if someone goes to a meeting of the cycling industry, about 80 percent of the people in the room will be male. It’s crucial for the cycling industry to attract more women to the workforce and more female riders. I know there’s a high demand for a female perspective in the industry, and it’s very beneficial for everyone to have them on board—for example, in better product design etc.
We believe that a small event format in Mallorca or in a sustainable resort close to Paris could give everyone the chance to get inspired—a better way to build new strategies and transfer our know-how on how to attract talent in the industry.
What are some of the challenges talent agencies face when hiring women in male-dominated industries?
I think work-life balance plays a role in this. Part-time working opportunities are becoming more popular, but in most European countries, incentives and schemes around them are not as developed as in the Netherlands.
We have to recognize that in the past couple of years, there was a hiring freeze in many companies, and as a cost-saving measure, they were less likely to recruit new talent. Instead, they wanted to keep the industry knowledge and experience within the company.
But now we are at a point where I think companies could benefit massively from more diverse points of view. When I speak to hiring managers, I see a general interest in the topic, but there’s a long way to go. It takes a lot of showcasing of best practices, more role models, and women in leadership positions to bring about change. It is absolutely doable; in our company, the gender balance actually slightly favours women.