Brompton raises £19 million investment via BGF for innovation and international growth

“We need to move faster,” says Brompton CEO Will Butler-Adams and pushing for speedier growth is the motive behind growth capital investor BGF taking a minority stake, securing £19 million equity capital to further accelerate growth.

Regularly hitting an organic growth rate of approximately 20%, funding by re-investing profits, the firm has been reportedly looking at its investment options for a number of months.

Since 1975, Brompton has been independent, owned by founder Andrew Ritchie, current CEO Will Butler-Adams, their friends, family and its staff – existing shareholders have also taken part in this funding investment.

“Over the last two decades, Brompton has grown organically at circa 20% a year, funded by reinvesting our profits,” said the Brompton boss. “For the year ended March 2023, turnover grew 21% to £130m, supported by the launch of the Superlight T Line and Electric P Line products. We export 80% of our bikes to 46 countries, and in November 2022 made our one-millionth bike, a great achievement. But this is not enough, we need to move faster. The impact of Climate change is being felt by us all and the greatest carbon emissions come from our cities where most of the world’s population now lives.”

“Our team at Brompton are brimming with ideas to accelerate our growth through product innovation, storytelling, outstanding stores and having fun with our amazing community. But if we are really going to go for it, we need to strengthen our balance sheet to give us the confidence to be more ambitious.”

Daina Spedding, investor at BGF, said: “We are incredibly excited to be backing an iconic British brand that is rich in heritage and engineering prowess, with an outstanding track record of profitable, global growth. From the outset, there has been a clear synergy between Brompton and BGF, with shared long-term goals and a focus on sustainable growth that is good for both people and planet. We look forward to supporting the business as it continues to expand into new markets and invest in new technologies and manufacturing capabilities to meet ever-growing demand for its revolutionary cycling range.”

While the investment looks to centre on production, Brompton has also been seeing some growth in its related projects like Brompton Subscription (which recently partnered with Green Commute) and Brompton Bike Hire which had a bumper 2022.