Humphrey Cobbold

In April 2009 Humphrey Cobbold was leafing through the pages of a Sunday newspaper when he saw a job ad that caught his eye.

It was for a chief executive at bikes etailer Wiggle. Cobbold was vaguely familiar with the business and, although he had little retail experience, was keen to go for it.

Two years on, Cobbold is presiding over a fast-growing business that last year delivered a surge in profits and has attracted attention from several quarters as owner Isis considers a sale.

Wiggle, which this year won an Oracle Retail Week Award for product innovation, is Cobbold’s first retail role. He started his working life at management consultancy McKinsey before being personally hired by Sly Bailey, boss of newspaper group Trinity Mirror, as director of strategic development.

At Trinity, Cobbold was tasked with the difficult job of convincing a raft of journalists in 2003 – when the internet was taking hold – that the web was an opportunity, not a threat. It was not easy. “It was still boom time for newspapers, they thought online was a non-issue,” he recalls.

Cobbold says he learned a lot working at Trinity with Bailey, citing her as a great influence in his career. But working as part of a large organisation made him realise the importance of entrepreneurialism and how hard it was to achieve in an established business. He now relishes the “tremendously entrepreneurial” spirit at Wiggle.

“We try, fail and succeed every day,” he says. “Big corporations have a problem with trying and failing. One of the most important things I have to do at Wiggle is make sure we retain the entrepreneurialism and willingness to try and fail [as Wiggle grows].”

An ability to keep up with developments in the online sphere is also critical. “The market is developing so quickly around us,” he says. “The biggest single lesson I have learned is to never think we have arrived at the end. Four or five years ago we had not even heard of Facebook. 10 years ago we hadn’t heard about Google. What’s next?”

The 46 year old is clearly switched on when it comes to the online world, but how big was the leap to retail?

“The key challenge for a retail chief executive is keeping a keen eye on detail but not getting so drawn into the detail that you can’t push forward strategically,” he says.

Cobbold is glad he made the jump. “Retail is a vibrant industry. It’s particularly fascinating to work in an online business, where new things come along that can cause material shifts.”

Perhaps what made the jump easier was his affiliation with Wiggle products. “I’d say I am a reasonably keen cyclist but my wife and children would say I’m obsessive,” says Cobbold, who regularly goes for 150km rides at the weekend. “And not just because it’s part of the job. I’ve always been keen on sports,” he says.

Occasionally former Asda boss and Wiggle chairman Andy Bond will join him. “I find myself following Andy – he’s quite fit,” laughs Cobbold.

Cobbold is enthusiastic and energetic. What motivates him? “I feel good about sending people kit that they will run in or cycle in. It gives me a sense of purpose,” he says.

“And I’m very driven by being able to build and develop a business and create employment. These things really matter. I can’t think of any job in the world I’d rather be doing right now.”

Cobbold’s business pedal-power shows no signs of slowing down.