For Butler-Adams, 2022 has been a “rollercoaster ride”, featuring “financially and emotionally testing” circumstances, but also presenting timely business opportunities.
“Covid, Brexit, supply chain shortages, logistics costs and inflation” have all caused headaches for the folding bike manufacturer. “But we are a stronger, more determined company as a result of everything we have been through,” Butler-Adams says. “Honest communication, teamwork and a strong belief in what we are doing have got us through. Our mission to create urban freedom for happier lives is more relevant now than it has ever been.”
Brompton’s greatest success of 2022, Butler-Adams says, was launching its new ultra-light 7.5kg T Line model, made entirely on British soil. “The T Line is a total redesign of the Brompton. Every part is different, except the brake callipers, every element optimised for weight and performance, taking the engineering to the limit. The T line has been a figment of my imagination for many years so to now ride it is a joy.”
Brompton has reacted smartly to the world around it, Butler-Adams claims. During the numerous rail strikes of 2022, the company offered free rental of its bikes. “The results have been super positive,” he reflects, “with around 20% of people who have used our bike hire going on to buy a bike and start cycling.”
The past year has yielded record-high temperatures, adding an exclamation point to the need to act on climate change, Butler-Adams notes. “We have been told this [climate change] has been coming for decades but didn’t believe the science. Now it is a reality with 40-degree days in the UK, raging fires across the Americas and biblical floods in Asia.”
Brompton is not a panacea, Butler-Adams admits, “but it has an important part to play. We have a million Bromptons being ridden around the world, and we have only just started. Most of the people in the world live in cities and this is only going to increase.”
The past year should confirm bikes as a “no-brainer” component of carbon efficiency, he argues. “The solution to our cities’ problems is not the electric car. This requires 2000kg to move an 80kg human less than 5km across a city, it takes up precious space, and uses a large amount of carbon to be produced. You can deliver the same outcome with a 15kg electric bicycle. It is good for your mind and soul, and all the rest.”