Conversation with… Rob Savin
Rob Savin’s career has taken him from outdoor brands to financial services and, eventually, back to retail, which he calls the lifeblood of the economy.
A former marketing director of Alpkit, he now splits his time between retail consulting, launching new ventures, and staying close to the outdoor world he loves.
In this latest Conversations interview, Rob shares how his experiences have shaped his views on leadership, why taking an interest in others is his best career advice, and what keeps him excited about the future of retail.
Can you tell us about your early career and how you got into retail?
I started off in outdoor brands. My first job was as marketing manager for Scott Sports – they make bikes and skis. I was incredibly lucky, because I love mountain biking, skiing, and being outdoors.
Then, in what I call a “financial services wilderness,” I spent around six years delivering big transformation programmes and doing a lot of digital marketing. But I kept thinking, “How did I end up in ISAs and mortgages when I started with mountain bikes and skiing?”
Eventually, I found my way back into retail – which I see as the lifeblood of the economy. I became marketing director for Alpkit, a direct-to-consumer outdoor retailer, and worked there through a period of huge growth: international expansion, range expansion, channel expansion, and opening lots of stores. I’ve always believed the High Street still has a vital role to play, and at that time we were very much “doing it,” which was hands-on, all-in, and a great learning experience.
Let’s talk about leadership. What values are most important to you?
I do a little exercise with my teams – take the letters of your name and assign values to them. My name’s Rob, so it’s nice and short:
R is for Responsibility – for your role, the situation you’re in, those around you, and yourself.
O is for Optimism – I genuinely believe that, with effort, things will work out brilliantly.
B is for “Brings enthusiasm” – wherever I am, I want to set a positive tone and energise the team.
Recently I read a 16-year-old book that made a big impact on me. I emailed the author to say so, explaining my values. To my surprise, he replied, saying I should change “Brings enthusiasm” to Buoyant – so I wouldn’t be “cheating” the exercise. I thought that was such a lovely, thoughtful response.
Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
That’s a hard question because I take inspiration from so many people. Honestly, the answer could be a long list. But there’s one person my daughter introduced me to about a year ago who really resonates with me at this stage of my life – Annie Smith Peck.
She was born in Pennsylvania in 1850 and spent the first 40 years of her life as a teacher. Then, in her late thirties or early forties, she discovered mountaineering – which, in the 1890s, was something very few people did at all, and certainly not women.
In that era, she climbed the Matterhorn – one of the most dangerous mountains in the world. More people have stood on Everest than the Matterhorn. And she did it in full Victorian women’s clothing, which makes it even more remarkable. She went on to set records around the world for the highest peaks ever climbed by a woman, and in her fifties set the record for the highest mountain climbed by anyone at that time.
What I find inspiring is that she completely changed the course of her life in her forties to do something society was telling her wasn’t for her – and then became the best in the world at it. Into her sixties, she was still climbing and setting records.
For me, she represents two huge ideas:
- Don’t just talk about doing it – do it. Don’t let other people’s obstacles become yours.
- Your path is never fixed. Even in your forties, you can choose to do something completely different.
I think Annie Smith Peck should be taught in schools. She’s a perfect example of living boldly.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
One contender for my biggest inspiration – and the source of my best advice – was my grandfather on my mum’s side. We called him “Grampy.” He was a man who seemed to churn out advice constantly. I’m not always sure whether it was advice or instructions, but it stuck.
One day, we were having tea and, as often happens, my brother and I weren’t paying much attention to the conversation at the table. Grampy stopped and said: “Take an interest in what’s going on around you. It might not seem interesting to you right now, but it’s good manners to take an interest. And, most importantly, it will benefit you to take an interest in other people and what’s happening.”
At the time it felt like being told off, but it really sank in over the years. It came back to me in my first job at Scott, when I met Nick Craig – a former National Mountain Bike Champion in the 1990s who was still winning races well into the 2010s. He was a hero of mine, and I was a little starstruck when he came to work at Scott.
What struck me most wasn’t his racing record – it was how he treated people. When you spoke to Nick, it felt like you were the most interesting person in the world to him. He wanted to know about your work, your weekend, your hobbies – and he listened. I wasn’t the only one who felt that way; others told me similar stories.
Nick had mastered what Grampy was talking about: taking an interest. It gave him a rich, connected life and made the people he spoke to feel valued. That’s the beauty of that advice – it’s not just about learning more, it’s about making people feel great.
What are you doing within the retail space now?
These days, I’m consulting for several businesses. A recent highlight was working with Café Pod. I met their founder, Peter, at a Retail Bulletin event where I was talking about the transformative power of physical stores. Peter came up afterwards and said, “I’d love to open a store – can we talk?” Fast forward to this year, and Café Pod has just opened its first store in London. Seeing that vision come to life has been amazing.
Peter’s vision was for a store where it smells great, sounds great, customers can get hands-on with the product, try everything, and strip away the pretence of coffee culture. He wanted it to be immersive, a little messy, and full of life. From the moment he described it, I knew I wanted to go – even before it existed. Now it does, and it’s brilliant.
And that all started from a Retail Bulletin event?
Totally. At that event I was talking about selling tents – how you need to see them, smell them, imagine where they’ll take you. Peter told me later that as I spoke, all he could think about was his coffee store. That’s when the idea really took shape.
I focus on helping businesses through what I call the “£5m to £20m stretch” — that tricky phase of growth where strategy and execution both matter hugely. It’s a stage full of opportunity but also plenty of growing pains.
One of the brands I’m working with now is Sous Chef, a high-end cookware and ingredients company that champions small-scale and artisan producers. With them, as with other clients, my role is to guide where to focus for growth, and to make sure the details that drive customer loyalty are right. Retail is detail – and getting those details spot-on is what makes the strategy pay back. In fact, that’s the joy of retail.
In addition, I’m about to launch a self-guided walking holiday business called Big Trail Adventures. It’s all about encouraging independent travel. You tell us where you want to go, your pace, and the types of places you want to stay, and we create a custom itinerary for you.
We’re not a traditional holiday company or tour operator, but those are our competitors. Building that proposition and figuring out how to connect with customers has been fascinating.
Another thing I’m doing – again linked to being active – is serving as a non-exec director for a running app called Skamper. Most people know Strava, but Skamper is about introducing you to the best places to run.
Instead of just running up and down a busy road, you can find brilliant route – each one designed by a human, not AI. There are 4,000 routes on Skamper, all hand-crafted so you know they’ll be good.
It also has leaderboards but not based on time – they’re based on grade. That’s calculated using your gender, age, and the route profile.
I often run with my 10-year-old daughter, and she’s always above me on the leaderboard because she’s younger, and isn’t that great? In fact, there’s an almost unbeatable 65-year-old woman on Skamper right now – she’s the one to beat. And in what other sport in life can you say that?
And we hear you have the support of a certain famous triathlete on this…
Yes, and this is where it gets really inspiring for me. As we were building Skamper, it was just the four of us, and we thought, wouldn’t it be great if Alistair Brownlee could help us grow this?
He’s obviously well-known, but more importantly, he’s a genuine activist for getting people moving and enjoying the outdoors. We took what felt like quite a bold step and reached out to him to see if he’d be interested.
He was delighted. He’s now on the board, helping us grow Skamper, encouraging people to get out and do things, and introducing us to key players in the running market. These connections could transform Skamper – and more importantly – introduce a much wider audience to the joy of running, which is exactly why we’re doing it.
What’s been your most important career lesson?
A few years ago, I tried to start writing a book because there were so many lessons and funny stories from my career. But one moment really stands out.
I was in a board meeting with people I deeply admired – hugely successful individuals who had generated millions in personal income, not just for their businesses. We were discussing a problem and, as you do in a boardroom, everyone was putting their best face on.
Then the CEO said, quite matter-of-factly: “The truth is, none of us has a clue what we’re doing, do we?”
It wasn’t criticism – it was honesty. And in that moment, the facade dropped. It was incredibly freeing. I realised that not knowing the answer isn’t a weakness; it’s part of the process. The way forward is to try, experiment, and ask for help when you need it.
That perspective makes me happy to throw myself into new things, whether that’s talking to Alistair Brownlee, starting a podcast, or launching a self-guided walking holiday business. It’s all just trying, learning, and seeing what works.
Speaking of podcasts, you’ve got a few in the works…
Yes, one is focused on retail and I’m really excited about it. The network and stories within retail are so powerful. Just sharing those stories can help us all learn from each other.
That boardroom moment I mentioned earlier really connects with people, because we’ve all been there – sitting in a meeting, wondering what are we actually doing here? And the truth is, most of the time, we’re all just doing our best with what we have.
That’s a refreshing perspective and it ties into humility in leadership
Exactly. I think humility is massively undervalued. I once read Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers, which talks about how we sometimes defer to “false credibility”- people who seem confident and experienced but might not actually have the best answers. Real leadership is about knowing your stuff, but also being willing to say, I don’t know-let’s figure it out.
What would you tell your younger self?
That’s easy – for goodness’ sake, stop worrying. Just get on with things as life’s too short.
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