Latest accounts for bike brand show profit collapsed from £10m to just over £4,000
Plans for a £100m headquarters and factory for Brompton Bikes in Kent have been approved but will not start construction for two years after profits collapsed last year.
Ashford borough council signed off the scheme, designed by Holloway Studio, to be located on a 100 acre wetlands site near Ashford, last week. The planning application was led by Quinn Estates.
But building work is not expected to start until 2027, the year it was originally due to complete, after the bicycle manufacturer, best known for its folding bikes, revealed pre-tax profit for the year ending March 2024 fell to just £4,602 from £10.7m.
The company has cited a faltering global bicycle market and an oversupply of cheaper bikes as reasons for the delay.
Will Butler-Adams, Brompton’s managing director, admitted: “The business conditions are challenging.”
But he added: “We have no debt. We’ve got strong cash reserves and expect to see really exciting growth over the next three to five years.”
Hollaway Studio’s scheme, drawn up three years ago, will include a circular building positioned on stilts 2.2m above the flood plain which will be turned into a nature reserve open to the public.
At the time, Brompton said its ambition was to be able to produce more than 200,000 bikes a year and employ more than 1,500 staff. In its last set of accounts, bike sales fell 8% to 84,899 although staff numbers were up 5% to 844.
The design incorporates sustainable transport principles, with no new car parking spaces provided. Staff and visitors will be encouraged to travel by bike or public transport. A wide cycle path will serve as the building’s main artery, allowing cyclists to ride directly into the factory, through its interior and up to a rooftop museum.
The proposed development includes spaces for designers, creators, and a manufacturing facility all linked by an internal street.
The company’s current factory in Greenford, west London, is expected to remain operational until at least 2030.
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