After years struggling for investment, Brompton Bicycle is now an icon, exporting bikes around the world.
What if...?
The Brompton Bicycle started as a tinkering project. It was an attempt by Andrew Ritchie, a Cambridge engineering graduate, to make a bike that folded intuitively and was easy to use.
Perfecting the fold
The first prototype introduced a hinge at the front so that the handlebars could be tucked down, and one at the back for folding the bike. It worked, but it didn’t look the part. The second prototype was much slicker – by pushing the saddle down the whole bike sprang into place. But the cables needed for the mechanism to work stretched too much. It was a non-starter.
Only after lots more iterations did Andrew finally develop a foldable bicycle he was happy with. With backing from friends he purchased a patent in 1976, and set about looking for a business to sell the idea to. But no-one wanted it.
Starting small
After years struggling to drum up any interest, Andrew started his own small-scale production operation, funding the development with pre-sales of 30 bikes. Unfortunately, his hinge supplier promptly went out of business – and Andrew spent several more years looking for investment.
The long road to investment
Having spent more than a decade working odd jobs as a gardener, builder and messenger, Andrew finally received financial backing in 1986 and set up his own factory. Today, the Brompton Bicycle is an icon – and the company is the largest volume bike manufacturer in Britain, exporting bikes around the world. “Today, folk take Bromptons for granted and think they’ve been around for ever," says Andrew. "But it was a pretty perilous journey into existence.”