Price increases, has anyone come across any since Friday?

[Wisper Bikes]

You all may be interested to know I had a two hour tour of the new Brompton factory in Greenford yesterday. They employ 140 people on the production line (18 bending and brazing) and 80 people in their offices.

I would certainly consider their product made In the U.K. Yes of course some parts are imported but the frames are brazed in their factory, the tubes are bent, the frames are then painted in Birmingham currently, but I saw their new paint plant being built. Wheels are laced in the U.K. Again they are planning to bring this inhouse very soon. The hinge is cast in Hungary but finished at their plant. I asked why they didn't import finished frames from the likes of Asia Pacific they told me they wanted to make it in Britain so they could keep control on quality, not to save money.

I have to say I was massively impressed!

I also saw the new Brompton electric bike with the new Williams motor. Designed exclusively for Brompton this is a completely brand new drive system. The Williams engineers described it as watch making, everything is so intricate! Only 35Nm of Torque but on a city bike that should be OK. The bike is due to be launched soon.

All the best, David

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Was the electric Brompton made in their factory. That's the one we're interested in. If it is, the change in exchange rates will make the price more competitive than it would have been.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Was the electric Brompton made in their factory. That's the one we're interested in. If it is, the change in exchange rates will make the price more competitive than it would have been.

D8veh....it depends upon the source of the 'make up' parts.....if these are from dollar or euro sourced countries,the price will inevitably rise.....I heard a rumour of £2.5k price.
KudosDave

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Was the electric Brompton made in their factory. That's the one we're interested in. If it is, the change in exchange rates will make the price more competitive than it would have been.

Yes it is Dave and all they said about price was it would be over £2,000.

All the best, David

 

[Izzyekerslike]

I had an idea of a 'Dell' system to make and sell e-bikes. Customers would assemble their e-bike on the web page, frame, wheelset, crankset, fork, brakes, handlebars, grips, accessories and conversion kit and place their orders on the website. However, I reckon such scheme would meet a lot of hostility from the LBSes.

Ribble already have a similar system for their road bikes and they seem to be doing well. No reason for it not to work with e-bikes

 

[flecc]

View attachment 15951

A neat row of Nissan Leaf electric cars parked just outside!

Sending a message?
.

 

[shemozzle999]

Hi David,

Will the new BAGB code of practice have any financial impact on consumer prices in the UK?

 

[The Cornishman]

As do Mifa in Germany, they sell bikes to Decathlon, they are cheap and cheerful, made in a highly automated factory and known by many in the bike press as a "bicycle shaped objects". I agree we could make ebikes here for about the same % increase as the bikes made in France. Solex recently tried to make ebikes in France and failed. Moustache on the other hand are superb French built ebikes but expensive. The big difference in France is labour is available and the French Government will practically fund the factory build and equip along with a huge bonus for every job created. We don't have that luxury here. There does not seem to be anyone looking for jobs in manufacturing and there is no help from Government.

I think there would be a large number of British citizens running businesses in France who might disagree quite strongly with your opinion of the facts.

 

[Timbo]

Well now...there are some advantages to living in the Eurozone. Mind you, it's been reported here in Ireland that supermakets were under pressure from Unilever. They bought the stuff wholesale in Euros to start with!

 

[Wisper Bikes]

I think there would be a large number of British citizens running businesses in France who might disagree quite strongly with your opinion of the facts.

I'd love too hear from them?

All the best, David

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi David,

Will the new BAGB code of practice have any financial impact on consumer prices in the UK?

Hi Shemozzle,

Not to the most of the current members, there is inly one that I know of that does not meet the criteria already.

You may be interested to know that BAGB are now working in an electric bike seal of approval or "kite mark". The consensus at the meeting was ebike law in the UK is still very messy and confusing, although the new EN15194 due to be published later this year goes some way to addressing a few of the certification issues. A BAGB "Kite Mark" would show everything was in place. "Kite Marked" electric bikes will have been submitted to the tech group of the BAGB for inspection along with all necessary certification on bikes, batteries and chargers. They will check that the certification applied to the bike being sold in the UK. A common practice is to use generic, normally out of date certification that does not apply the actual bike being sold. There will be a fee to cover costs but we don't expect that to be much more than 2 or £300 per model.

All the best, David

 

[The Cornishman]

I'd love too hear from them?

All the best, David

Have a look at Anglo Info, French Entree or survivefrance.com sometime. The majority of British 'businessmen' in France find the rules, requirements and cost of running a business there far more challenging than in the U.K. There is no easy ride and certainly no handouts or bonuses. I'm sure you will not be interested in changing your blinkered outlook but the picture that you described is so wrong.

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

Email from Greyville.....

CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES

The recent spat between Tesco and Unilever has highlighted a serious problem all importers are facing as the Pound continues to decline in value against other major trading currencies such as the US Dollar and Euro.

Though many distributors have already increased their trade prices we have maintained our existing 2016 prices on all our brands. However the further big drop in the value of Sterling over the last week means we cannot continue to absorb these costs and finally we have to follow the trend.

Accordingly over the next few days our trade and RRP prices on Rixen Kaul, Stronglight and Momentum Wheels will have to rise and these will be implemented on our website. So when placing a B2B order the prices shown at that moment will be the prices charged on the invoice. Unfortunately it is likely some of our other brands will also face increases in the near future.

Obviously no-one likes price increases but we hope you all appreciate the reasons behind these changes we are forced to make and you can be assured they will be kept to a minimum. We have no intention of exploiting the situation and know that we are still competitive in the vast majority of our products.

The Greyville Team

 

[anotherkiwi]

Have a look at Anglo Info, French Entree or survivefrance.com sometime. The majority of British 'businessmen' in France find the rules, requirements and cost of running a business there far more challenging than in the U.K. There is no easy ride and certainly no handouts or bonuses. I'm sure you will not be interested in changing your blinkered outlook but the picture that you described is so wrong.

I think the OP was referring to setting up a medium to large factory with many potential jobs. I did not read his outlook as blinkered, and more well informed than most opinions about France. There are aids for setting up a small business here, I have benefited from them twice in the form of interest free loans and small cash incentives.

For those running a cottage industry or B&B which you rightly have called 'businessmen' things will be different. I tried and 'failed' but my problems were with the banks and clients going bankrupt never with the rules and regulations. "More challenging" maybe but my brother had to fold his UK business because of immigration rules, he was asked to return to NZ.

 

[The Cornishman]

I think the OP was referring to setting up a medium to large factory with many potential jobs. I did not read his outlook as blinkered, and more well informed than most opinions about France. There are aids for setting up a small business here, I have benefited from them twice in the form of interest free loans and small cash incentives.

For those running a cottage industry or B&B which you rightly have called 'businessmen' things will be different. I tried and 'failed' but my problems were with the banks and clients going bankrupt never with the rules and regulations. "More challenging" maybe but my brother had to fold his UK business because of immigration rules, he was asked to return to NZ.

No, I mean setting up businesses at all levels. It's a lot more straightforward in the UK. As to employing staff that's another ball game altogether!

 

[anotherkiwi]

Things have changed a lot recently. You can set up an auto-entrepreneur business via the web in about 20 minutes. Yes you are limited to 3000 € a month turnover but for kick starting a business that is to be evolved into a private company it has made things a lot easier. When I started out I was paying social security before I cashed my first clients check. Not much fun... Now a days you get to pay on what you have earned.

 

[The Cornishman]

If we're being pedantic AE no longer exists and Micro Entrepreneur has replaced it. Unless you are involved in sales you are limited to a turnover of about €32,000 a year. If you are manufacturing something that figure includes buying you raw materials as well as your earnings. It was set up as a way to allow people with one job to have a second job. France does not have a PAYE system and it was to stop people working on the black. It has been abused by U.K. Immigrants because it is the easiest to set up and allows access to the health system. However that does not alter the fact that the costs, certification and paperwork involved in starting and running a business in France are more than in the U.K. Where you can just say, ' I'm going to make bikes', and do it; pay tax if you make any money and take it from there.
This is not the place to discuss the detail but nothing has changed. The original post suggesting that France gifted manufacturers an unfair advantage was totally wrong and that needed pointing out. If that poster wants to find out the real situation I suggest .they actually do some research. But the won't, it's much easier to believe that others have it easier than themselves; more macho like!
While we're being pedantic you cannot evolve an Micro Enterprise into anything. You can shut it down and open another regime but that's all.

 

[trex]

setting up a small business in France involves a bit more paperwork but not a huge amount. The obstacles have in my view more to do with qualifications (you have to register with the local chambre des metiers if you want to fix people's bikes for example) and taking in the way things are done in France than red tape. In fact, you are far less likely to get ripped off by a rogue trader in France than in the UK as a result of stricter regulations. AFAIK, the ME scheme is only to help you simplifying your paperwork, not to reduce your contributions.

 

[the_killjoy]

"The recent spat between Tesco and Unilever has highlighted a serious problem all importers are facing as the Pound continues to decline in value against other major trading currencies such as the US Dollar and Euro."

The price rise on Marmite because of the rate of exchange change was due solely to the tax avoidance measures employed by Unilever in the first place...

Marmite is made in the UK from UK raw materials BUT for tax reasons the raw materials are bought by Unilver Switzerland and then sold to Unilver UK thus directing the profits to the low tax regime of Switzerland; obviously the raw materials never actually leave the UK.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Just concerned that Brexit will change the complete business model of the U.K.
I think that the EU referendum was used as a protest vote by people in poor parts of the U.K. to send a message to government that they had been forgotten and this was their moment of power.
Theresa May appears to embrace these people but in reality has done nothing positive to help them.
Unfortunately that wasn't what the vote was about and actually the result of Brexit is to make these people poorer and lower their quality of life....they were told this by Cameron but few believed him,they preferred to believe the lies put out by Gove and Boris.
Over the next few months IMHO prices will rise by 20-30%, because of recent minimum wage costs and workplace pension costs and uncertainty of revenue I doubt many employers will look favourably on wage rises,the government will have a low tax take so no money for benefit or pension increases,we will all be poorer.
The £1000 e-bike will still be possible but the spec may reduce,imports from the EU will rocket north in price.Its all a shame e-bikes are currently very affordable,my Kudos Stealth bike is such a good buy at current price but I won't be able to hold that price for the next batch,due early 2017.
I hope those who voted Leave are pleased with the result?
KudosDave