WORKSHOP
Unique challenges and raising awareness The wider cycling industry issues of a glut of stock, heavy discounts and the continuing fallout from Brexit is compounded when a business doesn’t have a large marketing budget to fall back on. “One thing we are seeing across the sector, and across other craft manufacturing as well, is quite serious supply chain issues,” explains Lewis. “As these trades become more specialised, it only
“If we want to take on a trainee, the most cost effective
way to do it is through an apprenticeship route,” says Wade.
“But that’s not available with what we do because a Government apprentice has to go to a local college.” This issue is not exclusive to framebuilding “We have this issue with training across the sectors,”
says Lewis. “Research we carried out some time ago found that 80%
of makers weren’t in a position to pass on their skills, and that’s not because they don’t want to, it’s because they’re in these small businesses. “You might have enough work to keep yourself busy, but taking on a trainee is a hit to productivity for at least two or three years and then you’ve got the risk that they might not stay.
“The current apprenticeship model works if you’re
putting hundreds of trainees through, but it is not really fit for purpose for many small businesses. So it’s a real challenge for all crafts to be able to train people properly.”
takes one supplier to go out of business for it to have quite serious knock-on effects across trades like this. So something could happen in the supply chain that’s quite tenuous, but could end up putting things at risk. “Training, sourcing raw materials, supply chains, contracting, issues around Brexit, energy costs, rental costs of workshops, all of these things create a perfect storm that makes it really quite challenging to run a small manufacturing business.” The cycling industry’s obsession with innovation can also present unique challenges “The way that the componentry has changed has meant making handmade frames is a bit more complicated and difficult,” comments Paul Gibson, managing director of Ellis Briggs. One of the key targets of the campaign is to raise awareness of what framebuilders can do. “There’s newer people that have come into cycling that
maybe weren’t into cycling before when steel frames were ‘de rigueur’ and they don’t really know that we exist, what we do, what we can offer and how we can make better bikes for them,” says Briggs. The organisers have cited a Japanese website as a reference point which showcases and promotes framebuilders in Japan. The site also provides a directory of the services
available, as well as a history of the craft, an overview of upcoming trends and information on the manufacturing process.
“Everyone thinks that steel frames are heavy. But compared to a lot of mid to reasonably priced aluminium products out there, it’s actually very, very light,” says Wade. “We can make a high -nd steel bike come in around
7.6 kilos – and that’s something you cannot get from a manufacturer. “As Paul said, if someone’s aged between 50 and 60, and they were into cycling as a teenager, then they would appreciate a steel bike. For many others, their memory could be a very heavy steel bicycle that they might have ridden to school.
“So I think raising the awareness of what we do, and the level of quality and aesthetic that we can bring to the product for the buyer, is where we want to be.”
22 | March 2024
www.bikebiz.com
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