The Brompton street trials bike

Brompton’s managing director, William Butler-Adams, has said that many are too quick to write off UK manufacturing as dead and buried and if you look a little closer you’ll find a lot of small, entrepreneurial companies that are exciting, innovative and prosperous. Testament to this was there for me to see during my visit to the Brompton factory last week; teams of engineers, brazers and fitters working like clockwork to produce 30,000 of the famous folding bikes each year…

Brompton is not only a success in British manufacturing but has revolutionised the way bicycles can be used in this country; its clever folding mechanism allows thousands of commuters each day to bypass the onerous regulations that prevent many cyclists from carrying their full-size bikes on trains…oh, and the folders are pretty handy for street trials riding too…