Brompton bike inventor quits board in row over growth plan

THE creator of the Brompton folding bicycle has stepped down from the company’s board – disgruntled at the way the business is run.

Andrew Ritchie, who set up the firm in 1976, is understood to have had a series of minor disagreements with Brompton management as they embarked on ambitious expansion plans.

Brompton, headed by chief executive Will Butler-Adams, earlier this year secured investment from serial entrepreneur and private equity boss Luke Johnson.

The firm is branching into China, launching electric bicycles and setting up shop at a new factory in Greenford, west London. It has aimed to double production of its bikes to 100,000 a year by 2020. But profits dipped 37pc last year to £2.1m, according to Brompton’s latest set of accounts.

‘Brompton is Andrew’s baby, but he’s been unhappy with certain aspects of how the company is developing. Things had started to upset him so he decided to step down from the board,’ a source said.

It is not clear whether Ritchie is unhappy with the aggressive plans to expand the business or with the role played by Johnson, who has gained a reputation for building up firms such as Pizza Express and Patisserie Valerie.

Ritchie, 69, ( pictured) remains the firm’s biggest shareholder with around 18pc, and the source added that he still visits its factory and ‘has a role at the firm’.