Supporting British Industry & Craftsmanship
Brompton was founded by engineer Andrew Ritchie, who invented the bike's signature three-part fold in his London flat overlooking the Brompton Oratory, in 1975 and filed the original patent in 1979. The company is now based in Greenford, west London and is Britain's largest-volume bicycle manufacturer.
The company's £2.5 million HQ and factory in Greenford is a vast shed with a mezzanine looking out over the production areas. On the ground floor, some of the site's 350 staff produce around 100,000 bikes a year - including the Brompton Electric. Every bike is hand-brazed by skilled bike builders. Each brazer trains for eighteen months before they are given a 'signature' number and letter code. They stamp this on the parts of the bike that they work on. More than 70 % of those bikes are exported to 47 countries. Efforts are currently being made to increase production capability, develop new products and improve the customer experience.
This was a huge site and a very modern, slick production line with high-tech machinery running alongside hands-on bike-building. It was great to see female brazers working on the bikes." Carmel King photographed Brompton in September 2021 for Made in London.
