New Brompton factory aims for 200,000 bikes per year

Brompton is to invest £100m in a new factory built on a recently restored wetland at Ashford in Kent. The radical development will stand on stilts to safeguard against flooding and not include any new car parking facilities but rather rely on new walking and cycle routes from the local railway station.

“The whole reason this works is everything about it is slightly mad,” said Will Butler-Adams, Brompton’s chief executive as he announced the plans before explaining the company aims to increase production almost threefold from the current 70,000 to 200,000 bikes a year.

Brompton success story

While countless businesses languish as a result of covid-19, others are seeing their sales speed up. Perhaps it's due to people seeking a new way to exercise, or taking advantage of quieter roads, but it's estimated that sales of bicycles are up by around fifteen per cent.

"People are thinking, I want to have independence," says Will Butler-Adams, chief executive of the folding bike company, Brompton.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7PcW8samBg

Design

Brompton is a design classic that is practical, easy to use and instantly recognisable. Furthermore, it's a beacon of commercially successful British engineering. Brompton is not only a success in British manufacturing but has revolutionised the way bicycles can be used in this country. The bike's party trick is a clever, bomb-proof folding mechanism that appeals to commuters prevented from carrying full-size bikes on trains. “Many are all too quick to write off UK manufacturing as dead and buried but if you look a little closer you’ll find a lot of small, entrepreneurial companies that are exciting, innovative and prosperous” says Butler-Adams.

Innovation

Andrew Ritchie built the first Brompton bike in 1979 and has been refining the design ever since. However, some might say the brand has been slow to innovate. In fact, Brompton owners are such a resourceful bunch that they retrofitted electric motors to their folders before the factory produced battery assist version was launched. And one owner addressed criticism of the Brompton's weight by building one that tips the scales at under 6KG.

The ethical choice

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