Behind the scenes at HEL
We call in on the British brake line manufacturer that changed the industry for the better
HEL Performance’s owner, Simon Lane, is somewhat understated when he describes the firm’s success as “lucky; we were in the right place at the right time”. Luck had little to do with it. Dedication, determination and producing a quality final product were far more influential.
Formed in 1999 following the purchase of a small local hydraulics company, HEL have gone on to achieve remarkable global success. In less than 20 years the firm have grown into a multi-million pound business that distribute their products to over 80 countries worldwide and are the UK’s largest motorcycle stainless steel brake line supplier.
“The original company was called Hose-Equip Limited and operated in the general hydraulics industry,” explains Simon. “That market wasn’t where my interest lay, but it offered the foundation to branch out into motorcycle brake lines.” While other brake line firms existed at the time, you normally bought a kit that you had to assemble yourself using brass olives, sockets and a screw fitting that you inserted into the hose. Spotting a gap in the market, Simon drew on his background in industrial hydraulics to change the way these kits were supplied.
“With HEL’s kits we swaged the fittings so they were cleaner, slimmer and most importantly, tamper-evident,” Simon explains. “Buyers received a complete kit that was designed for their bike so the lines were the correct length and had all the fittings installed, all you had to do was attach them to your brake system and fill with fluid. While nowadays this is common, in 1999 we were the first to do it. We also did a full range of colours and all of
our components were stainless steel rather than mild steel or aluminium, which often corroded.” Initially, HEL comprised just Simon and one employee handcrimping and hand-building each kit using out-sourced parts, HEL’s business grew using very traditional methods. “We advertised in magazines and on the bottom of the ad was a cut-out order form that buyers could post to us,” said Simon. “It was so exciting to get a form through the post, but very quickly we were inundated with requests!” By 2008 the company had reached a point where they needed to invest in order to grow and they moved to a new facility just outside Exeter and invested in two CNC machines so they could manufacture their own fittings. Very quickly this became four machines, then eight and now the company have 17 CNC machines that run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. While they source the brake line from a British company (in 1000m rolls), all of the stainless steel fittings are built in-house and they are also now established in the four-wheeled world and are about to launch their own design of radial motorcycle brake caliper and master cylinder. Add to this multiple BSB, Moto2, TT and British Touring Car titles, not to mention a presence in MotoGP and a WSB title with Aprilia, and it’s a British success story.