British-made bike sales rocket to £60m

Sales of British-made bikes have risen significantly over recent years, in units and value.

According to the Office of National Statistics’ Prodcom survey, UK-manufactured sales of bicycles increased in value by a whopping two thirds between 2013 and 2014, from £35.6m to £60.2m.

The number of UK-manufactured cycle sales rose significantly too, up 69.8 per cent year-on-year to more than double the amount produced in 2011.

UK manufactured products across the board are on the up, according to the report, with sales 20.8 per cent higher in 2014 than in 2009. In 2014 the value of UK manufacturers’ product sales was £362.3 billion, a 2.2 per cent increase on the 2013 estimate of £354.5 billion.

In 2012, the most recent year with comparable EU data, 5 EU countries – including the UK – accounted for 69.7 per cent of the share of total value of EU manufacturers’ product sales, the report said.

The Prodcom (UK Manufacturers’ Sales by Product Survey) stats refer to sales by manufacturers and not purchases by UK consumers – retail sales statistics are notoriously thin on the ground in the UK bike trade, with shops and chains not keen to share data with the rest of the cycle trade.

Further reading:

What it’s really like to manufacture in Britain by cycle firms that do

Brompton boss: ‘UK manufacturing is in its best place since the 70s’