Andrew Ritchie (born circa 1947)
is the inventor of the
Brompton folding bicycle
A folding bicycle is a bicycle designed to fold into a compact form, facilitating transport and storage. When folded, the bikes can be more easily carried into buildings, on public transportation (facilitating mixed-mode commuting and bicycl ...
, and has guided the Brompton Bicycle company to become the largest bicycle manufacturer in the UK.
In 1995 he received the
Queen's Award for Export
The Queen's Awards for Enterprise is an awards programme for British businesses and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation, sustainable development or promoting opportunity (through social mobility). They are the highest ...
and in 2009 the
Prince Philip Designers Prize
The Prince Philip Designers Prize is an annual design recognition given by the Chartered Society of Designers and originally awarded by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021).
It is the longest running design award in the United Kingdom, h ...
.
In the Queen's Birthday Honours of 21 April 2010, the company was awarded two Queen's Awards for Enterprise – in the Innovation and International Trade categories
Brompton has now produced well over 100,000 bicycles and in 2008 achieved 25,000 units for export to markets such as the Netherlands, America, Germany, Japan and Scandinavia.
A
University of Cambridge, Cambridge engineering graduate, Ritchie was working as a
landscape gardener
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...
in London when, in 1976, he conceived the idea for a folding bike, which he subsequently named after the
Brompton Oratory
Brompton Oratory is a large neo-classical Roman Catholic church in the Knightsbridge area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. Its full name is the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, or as named in its Grade II* archite ...
.
[Laurance, Ben (7 August 2005]
"The bicycle that turned into folding money"
''The Guardian'', His design won the 'Best Product' award against an international field at the Cyclex exhibition in April 1987.
After devoting his life to the development and manufacture of the bike, he began to step back from the day-to-day running of the company in 2005, reduced his shareholding, and now acts as Technical Director.
[Stone, Andrew (20 July 2008)]
"How I made it: Andrew Ritchie of Brompton Bicycle"
''Sunday Times''[Brompton Official site — People](_blank)
He was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(MBE) in the
2010 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 2010 were announced on 31 December 2009 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Saint Lucia, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Christopher and NevisSaint Christ ...
for services to Business and to International Trade.
Early career
After graduating in engineering from
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
,
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, in 1968,
[Brompton official site, History](_blank)
Ritchie worked as a computer programmer for
Elliott Automation
Elliott Brothers (London) Ltd was an early computer company of the 1950s–60s in the United Kingdom. It traced its descent from a firm of instrument makers founded by William Elliott (1780 or 1781-1853) in London around 1804. The research ...
which subsequently became part of
Marconi. He then spent 5 years as a self-employed
landscape gardener
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...
.
In the mid-1970s his father, a stockbroker, introduced him to Bill Ingram and the
Bickerton bike, which in turn triggered his own ideas for a folding bicycle.
Ritchie persuaded 10 friends to invest £100 each so that he could build a prototype which was completed one year later.
Two more prototypes were built in the bedroom of his flat overlooking
Brompton Oratory
Brompton Oratory is a large neo-classical Roman Catholic church in the Knightsbridge area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. Its full name is the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, or as named in its Grade II* archite ...
in
South Kensington
South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
, London – hence the bike's name.
After failing to license the design to
Raleigh Bicycle Company
The Raleigh Bicycle Company is a British bicycle manufacturer based in Nottingham, England and founded by Woodhead and Angois in 1885. Using Raleigh as their brand name, it is one of the oldest bicycle companies in the world. After being acqui ...
he managed to sell 30 bicycles to order for £250 each in advance. Convinced that there had to be at least another 20 people willing to buy one, he produced 50 rather than just the 30. After 18 months, the bikes were delivered – and all 50 were sold.
In the early 1980s, Ritchie raised £8,000 from shareholders, and made 500 bikes over 2 years.
Bicycle manufacturer
Ritchie received private funding of £40,000 from
Julian Vereker
Julian Charles Prendergast Vereker Order of the British Empire, MBE (7 May 1945 – 14 January 2000) was an English self-taught designer of audio equipment, and the founder of Naim Audio, Naim Audio Ltd. of Salisbury, Wiltshire. He was an influent ...
, founder of
Naim Audio
Naim Audio is a British hi-fi manufacturer based in Wiltshire, United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1973. Following a 2011 merger with French loudspeaker manufacturer Focal, Naim is owned by VerVent Audio Group, a French company.
Hist ...
and a yacht manufacturer, who had originally bought two Bromptons after a chance discussion about 'folding bicycles' whilst on one of his yachts in Cherbourg in 1982.
An additional £10,000 equity raised from friends, relatives and Brompton owners launched the company properly in 1986,
and he eventually secured £100,000 to set up a better-equipped factory under a
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
railway arch in 1987. It had taken five years to secure the capital.
Volume production was difficult and demand outstripped the factory's capacity, so it expanded into a second railway arch in 1994 and again in 1998 into the
Chiswick
Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...
premises it occupied until moving to
Greenford
Greenford () is a suburb in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, England, lying west from Charing Cross. It has a population of 46,787 inhabitants, or 62,126 with the inclusion of Perivale.
Greenford is served by Greenford Station (Lo ...
in 2016.
Later life
Ritchie has recruited new management since the early 2000s, including
Will Butler-Adams
William David Butler-Adams (born 11 May 1974 in London) OBE FRGS is the managing director of Brompton Bicycle Limited a manufacturer based in the United Kingdom, published by the Made in Britain Campaign and Brompton Bike Hire Limited a provide ...
who became managing director and, with new investors, purchased half of Ritchie's 50% shareholding.
Ritchie acknowledges that Brompton has been his life.
References
External links
The Brits Who Designed the Modern WorldArtsnight - Series 4: 7, BBC Two
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, Andrew
1947 births
English businesspeople
Brompton bicycle
Living people
British cycle designers
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge