Brompton wants you to ride for yourself, and planet Earth

CEO says the bike's true measure is whether it has helped change how people live in cities.

- Ravi Velloor Senior Columnist

Brompton's chief executive and co-owner Will Butler-Adams says urban lifestyles cannot be just about getting out of bed, getting into the car or the train and sitting at a desk because the cost of maintaining that culture is just too great.

(ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN)

Nice, then, to talk about an authentic British brand, Brompton Bicycle.

London-based Brompton, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025, likes to think of itself as a company whose purpose is that form must follow function in everything it does. Hence, its bicycles are designed to disappear when you do not need them, and reappear when you do something you can fold in less than 20 seconds, and carry on to the train or into the office.

The manufacturing process is designed to cut waste at every stage, and its bicycle rims are mostly made from recycled aluminium. Two years ago, it launched Brompton Renewed, a resale platform for refurbished bicycles. On a recent visit to the Brompton outlet in Funan Mall, I spotted a mechanic servicing a two-decade-old bike.

When I suggest to chief executive officer and co-owner Will Butler-Adams that Brompton seems to think of itself as the Patagonia of the bicycle world, with its emphasis on environmental activism and extreme durability, I get a beam of approval in response.

"We are living in paradise, and if we do not grasp that and make the best of our little moment on planet Earth, what a waste it would be," he says.

It is that attitude that has helped the 51-year-old engineer who confessed that he failed to get into his father's school, Eton, and had to go to Rugby School, which was still selective but not as prestigious - steer through an industry downturn, following a period of high demand during the Covid-19 pandemic. That was when Brompton could hardly make enough bikes to meet the needs of people who sought mobility, fun and exercise with minimum risk of infections.