Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Aye, the David Brents of this world are worried they'll be found out if people stay at home in a fairly productive manner.
"Brompton profits plunge more than 99% amid bike industry turmoil"
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- Location
- Somewhere wet & hilly in NW England.
This ^^^^
Absolutely *iss poor management and absolution of any responsibility for the financial situation the business is in.
It was utterly naive to believe that the covid pandemic was ushering in a brave new world of increased cycling adoption.
The short-term leisure boom was never going to last.
Although I agree it’s been mismanaged, WBA has ended up putting a substantial amount of his own money into the business so I think it’s slightly unfair to say that he hasn’t taken responsibility for the current situation.
- Location
- Somewhere wet & hilly in NW England.
We need to differ there.
To me, investing money into a business and taking responsibility for mis-management of said business are not connected issues.
EckyH
Senior Member
- Location
- Nottuln, North Rhine-Westphalia
At least Brompton was profitable in 2024 - contrary to other brands. Therefore I assume they managed the crisis slightly better than other brands. Fingers crossed that it is good enough.
E.
E.
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markemark
Veteran
Indeed. I suspect it’s putting money in to protect your fortune. I sadly also suspect it will be the lower paid being laid off to balance the books who will in reality suffer the biggest personal cost.
Of course this is all guesswork.
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bonzobanana
Guru
Brompton have spent a lot on developing a new model and sometimes that can lead to losses with a business one year and then profits following years as you reap the money from the sales of that design. I feel it still has a good core business but much of Europe and US is getting poorer with servicing more government debt etc. However there has been a huge exodus from China recently as European and US brands leave China. They are leaving it as both a market to sell in and place to manufacture their products. Taiwan is a huge owner of mainland China factories and they of course don't want to invest in China anymore as China threatens their sovereignty. Many European and US bike brands only really assemble Chinese bikes or parts Brompton is a little more than that. I feel Brompton could outsource more components to cheaper countries without effecting its brand reputation.
Ultimately I feel Brompton is a solid business but they should think about ways to both increase their margin but lower their price and ultimately this means they have to focus more on logistics and their price per unit. I feel this means a higher Asian manufactured content in their bikes. A bit like Triumph motorcycles perhaps they should think about a factory in Asia that supplies bikes to the Asian market and perhaps also produces their entry level models.
Ultimately I feel Brompton is a solid business but they should think about ways to both increase their margin but lower their price and ultimately this means they have to focus more on logistics and their price per unit. I feel this means a higher Asian manufactured content in their bikes. A bit like Triumph motorcycles perhaps they should think about a factory in Asia that supplies bikes to the Asian market and perhaps also produces their entry level models.
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Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
The Asian market already has Brompton knockoffs,. many of which are made with superior grades of steel.
It's a niche product, snookered into an even smaller niche by their own pricing. They can have world domination, or they can carry on with the current model, but both won't be happening at once.
It's a niche product, snookered into an even smaller niche by their own pricing. They can have world domination, or they can carry on with the current model, but both won't be happening at once.
IanSmithCSE
Guru
- Location
- Worcester, Worcestershire
Good afternoon,
It's worth looking over the last filing, the one the Guardian references, as it tells a quite different story to the headline, Brompton seems to be in very good health.
Link is added to the bottom as it doesn't fold and is quite long. :-)
It may also be worth noting the income distributions and the big share from Asia and Pacific, areas where there are home grown bikes. Also where paying for a Brompton is a status symbol, a bit like a Rolex, so being seen as British Made is critical.
At the risk of being sent to NACA,
Not fancying next years payroll increases.
Bye
Ian
https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-live.ch.gov.uk/docs/V6lhDOi_V5kGp9HOuElVN8eXohHvMYgJZT-QzSyKJ0Y/application-pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAWRGBDBV3KYVLNIH2/20250103/eu-west-2/s3/aws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20250103T122936Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEBEaCWV1LXdlc3QtMiJHMEUCICrEgsEwoskd+rWMqNQDv/l2uuUH/kgL+I6nuQkwKYViAiEAkbcwM3ccgq/3hoQdazn3z5KAxHGj7CIZepq6WW1vhc8qxAUI6v//////////ARAFGgw0NDkyMjkwMzI4MjIiDGSiNWLInIHJCYJ6fCqYBcOIX4BGNDFi6SkxtZz7zJLqNSlnkOxCLnDnv8H8L322IczGZjuvJiG3ZQJp091LWbDA2slUY0C4ZwdD8Mt1XouTmVxTUpbo9IZ+2TuTjJvkzs0T4xx+KiS/xf+jSQh9+w1d/xunSaPhSvgZsUENFqTOWr4pYZ6O4HWp0g9gp48w8dsL/UJJ07aieDN59uGYB5zGr1iiy36rp4uzlnarKflIxZTyuelSWhCGBad6elp5z39jzCE0sJgl8H6kSVFrhTWOWuO+xec3dMNTC70WmArnPN/7AgfVHPZaK9BaMM6jiqn1RuSvdsGioUR5dWz0AkEY3ER85xHkWNoNd57Ck02ChjpdKEE3LI7lJvEh9NNWk9D7up+c2WWLpjfUNKqZgIn3G1Ew655QVwI/Tod1ojpMgTdZ17dN7zMOWhPVzSe/jcL0lo9wcs7oMj4GaZZFoloDznZIt+JDphvJnYPbpjmtQr/ymw4ziwarLKq8h6QmJ7T3odCeCioM5zJLPmVGTVaiG0fY6t6QARs9LVnie/QMMSboLTTul7iyRV1PT2gj/lSnLb5cRzgoptBeWVwLAAXG5dsaURbVERZz4ep2i57XSjxLjW4F4DNxfEXpPu4sHrIKYaBY6bu8GwJkCsMIeYNQpUcca4e9ykw0hqTrNgRepjmrfJ3v+qRgvwqyXyg0qw1yEKCkenzYTfGwRkED77z9xMz/I2FZr6B2LJsU3N1KF8+SdbTa+O2VuxfPgejOL9LPiIobCE4ggqOTMfwjXsRMXU8ARFp9XLSUzchF2fpvDTAfL5dVr8leQrQm8Y+vzivVALBbNZzDSO92wpMN2Utk4R68/Bjt/nOP3v+De0+7DMdO4G1EmAZdNJRqYHa9ghiMXGr377Iw1c7euwY6sQEKRP8PlxRosnJ9prvHRl7uLrqnMyGsJvSJ6cJ9XJcoLuVoiweOan9h2GyrJHaVW3uFtn6eZ8TxrD6cL/bcE7FNEJoZdNfSg5m9UDbDi7eN2jjtu5KFwULN2/Q8+QTkp+sevIcprRaogMgdWxQsQ+lpXp/5Fd65vStHaLEumrzsIBx5DJttCmYZqEJMyc/5cgpZIzkCGI5cplABFDVNa/wpZht8XRj6auxMaoUvaC/icIM=&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=inline;filename="companies_house_document.pdf"&X-Amz-Signature=4ac3c7362b275a11382f32cf22d4bb55809f6c45d90b65d178b69994a6b57fea
It's worth looking over the last filing, the one the Guardian references, as it tells a quite different story to the headline, Brompton seems to be in very good health.
Link is added to the bottom as it doesn't fold and is quite long. :-)
It may also be worth noting the income distributions and the big share from Asia and Pacific, areas where there are home grown bikes. Also where paying for a Brompton is a status symbol, a bit like a Rolex, so being seen as British Made is critical.
At the risk of being sent to NACA,
Not fancying next years payroll increases.
Bye
Ian
https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-live.ch.gov.uk/docs/V6lhDOi_V5kGp9HOuElVN8eXohHvMYgJZT-QzSyKJ0Y/application-pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAWRGBDBV3KYVLNIH2/20250103/eu-west-2/s3/aws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20250103T122936Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=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&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=inline;filename="companies_house_document.pdf"&X-Amz-Signature=4ac3c7362b275a11382f32cf22d4bb55809f6c45d90b65d178b69994a6b57fea
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fritz katzenjammer
Der Ubergrosserbudgie
- Location
- Canada eh! Your land of back bacon.
I‘m an old retired guy who works at a factory store part time for fun. I’m sitting at home right now because there are no bikes to build at our shop. Everything is built and awaiting customers that aren’t coming through the doors because it’s snowing outside. The store is full, the warehouse is full and the prices reduced. It was only late this past summer that we were able to unload the last of our 2022 models. I heard of discounts at some of our other stores that are simply crazy.
The powers that be at head office blew planning, assuming the Covid boom would last forever. There’s a independent shop in the next town that was pleading with one of its suppliers to stop shipping bikes as their warehouse was stuffed. That manufacturer responded by offering to rent them a few containers so they could store bikes in the back lot. There is a small local chain of stores in our area which carries several popular makes of bikes. There’s three stores spread over three adjacent cities, they currently have 4000 bikes in their main warehouse. The market is totally flooded and nobody is going to make money until this backlog clears. Those who have a solid base should survive but I hear rumbling of several of our competitors maybe not making it. I think if Brompton is just breaking even right now they are doing okay in the current marketplace. A lot of companies are bleeding money and just trying to make it through this.
i worked for a component manufacturer in the automotive industry during the 08 recession. Our firm just barely broke even for several years, but we were thought of as doing quite well during that time as many of our competitors went to the wall. I think Brompton could come out the other end of this quite well if the people who hold the purse strings don’t loose their nerve.
The powers that be at head office blew planning, assuming the Covid boom would last forever. There’s a independent shop in the next town that was pleading with one of its suppliers to stop shipping bikes as their warehouse was stuffed. That manufacturer responded by offering to rent them a few containers so they could store bikes in the back lot. There is a small local chain of stores in our area which carries several popular makes of bikes. There’s three stores spread over three adjacent cities, they currently have 4000 bikes in their main warehouse. The market is totally flooded and nobody is going to make money until this backlog clears. Those who have a solid base should survive but I hear rumbling of several of our competitors maybe not making it. I think if Brompton is just breaking even right now they are doing okay in the current marketplace. A lot of companies are bleeding money and just trying to make it through this.
i worked for a component manufacturer in the automotive industry during the 08 recession. Our firm just barely broke even for several years, but we were thought of as doing quite well during that time as many of our competitors went to the wall. I think Brompton could come out the other end of this quite well if the people who hold the purse strings don’t loose their nerve.
In a self interested way I was wondering if we might see some price reductions / promotions from Brompton to shift more stock. They would probably dress it up as some sort of special initiative. Mrs Tkk is in the market for a T line, but happy to defer purchase for a while.
They are already throwing a free bag (worth about £100) so they have started already with some incentives
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Got several bags, in fact Mrs Tkk says I have more brommie bags than she has handbags...
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Z’ha’dum
No chance of that happening in our house!!!!
markemark
Veteran
I always maintain an exact equilibrium of brommie bags and handbags.....
