There is more upheaval at premium cycling clothing manufacturer Rapha, with Fran Millar announcing that she is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer after two years in the role.
When Millar arrived at Rapha in August 2024 from Belstaff – where she helped turn around the company’s financial performance – she was faced with poor financial results, including seven consecutive years of reduced sales and turnover and rising losses, some on the back of the industry’s post-pandemic slump.
Millar, the former Director of Business Operations at Team Sky, warned of "significant organisational changes to reduce cost" at Rapha, as she confirmed news of her departure – which originally surfaced on the Escape Collective website – in a social media statement on Wednesday.
"After two bonkers and brilliant years, I’ve decided to leave Rapha," Millar wrote.
"The vision and strategy I set are in place, and the path ahead for the brand is clear. What remains is delivery.
"To support that, the business will make significant organisational changes to reduce cost and drive efficiency, and those changes call for a different governance and leadership structure. With that in mind, I proposed to the board that I step down as CEO.
"I am incredibly proud of the passionate, loyal, committed people who work at Rapha across the world and it has been a joy to lead them for two years. All that remains to say is THANK YOU to our team, our members, our customers and the brand. It’s been an honour."
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Millar has worked in the cycling industry for most of her working life, helping to found the Face Partnership athlete management and events company in 2000, before moving to help establish Team Sky, where she worked in various roles, during which time she worked with Rapha, who supplied the team with their race clothing between 2013 and 2016.
Leaving as CEO in October 2020, she went on to run two other brands owned by Netcompany Ineos owner Jim Ratcliffe, Ineos Hygienics and Belstaff, before returning to the cycling industry at Rapha.
According to Millar, Rapha had been drifting in the years since 2017, when founder Simon Mottram sold it to RCZ Investments for £200 million, and she blamed a dilution of the brand’s focus, entering the mountain bike and lifestyle markets, as well as too much focus on low price-point products.
"We know we want to grow. We knew we wanted to scale. We’d obviously been bought and I think there was a pressure to demonstrate that the price [of the acquisition] had been worth it."
Where Millar's departure leaves one of cycling's premier clothing brands remains to be seen. Cyclingnews has approached Rapha for comment, but a statement was not forthcoming in time for publication.
Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.
A recent addition to the Cyclingnews staff, Owen Rogers is an experienced journalist, working as a freelancer covering the sport for various magazines and websites for more than 10 years.
Initially concentrating mainly on the women's sport, he has covered hundreds of race days on the ground and interviewed some of the sport's biggest names.
Living near Cambridge in the UK, when he's not working you'll find him either riding his bike or playing drums.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
