‘Brexit has lost us 25% of sales’: British bike storage firm buckles under red tape

A British bicycle entrepreneur says Brexit has buckled his business and near him pinch a £100,000 spread successful revenues, accusing nan authorities of failing to do capable to mitigate its effect connected British mini exporters.

Cycloc, which has made a sanction for its unique indoor bicycle retention and accessories and includes Stella McCartney, Jonathan Ross and cycling prima Mark Cavendish among its customers, says nan EU represented 50% of its business earlier Brexit near it nursing a 25% diminution successful wide sales.

“It is very disappointing. I americium a people optimistic person, but successful a consciousness it is very difficult to beryllium positive,” said nan company’s laminitis and designer, Andrew Lang, successful his workplace successful eastbound London.

“One of nan things that is rather disappointing astir this full process is that from nan outset, we made an progressive determination to manufacture successful nan UK. We’ve remained religious to that and it feels arsenic though nan UK authorities hasn’t needfully helped us.”

Cycloc’s products person been a British mini business occurrence communicative pinch its striking wall hangers celebrated pinch owners of costly wheels who want to shop them safely inside. They are utilized by immoderate of nan world’s starring rhythm brands including Pinarello, whose bikes tin waste for arsenic overmuch arsenic £15,000.

A merchandise designer by profession, Lang launched nan injection-moulded products successful 2006. They quickly recovered favour among cycling enthusiasts, professionals and distributors, winning a prestigious Eurobike grant successful 2009, nan Oscars of nan rhythm sector.

Distributors crossed nan EU lapped up nan wall-mounted blocks, which costs from £43 and bent bikes successful “any predisposition aliases space”, stopping them cluttering up hallways crossed nan continent.

By nan clip Brexit came along, business was flying pinch 10,000 units sold successful nan EU each twelvemonth and yearly turnover hitting £450,000.

But erstwhile caller rules came into unit successful January 2021 aft nan extremity of nan modulation period, business started to slow, particularly aft Amazon stopped fulfilling orders for individual EU customers buying from Britain.

There was besides a driblet successful assurance successful British products, says Cycloc’s caput of operations, Clare Lowe, pinch immoderate “EU distributors stopping placing orders, citing costs of shipping and customs clearance arsenic prohibitive”.

Patron McCleary, Andrew Lang and Clare Lowe. Cycloc was founded successful 2006. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

The institution made each effort to hit what Lang calls “Kafkaesque” Brexit reddish portion by opening up a storage successful nan Netherlands astatine nan extremity of 2021 to guarantee costly paperwork would only person to beryllium done per truckload crossing from Dover alternatively than per individual unit.

The purpose was to fulfil direct-to-EU user business from its website and Amazon and smaller business income to motorcycle shops but it still costs £10,000 other successful overheads.

As 2022 progressed, it became evident that EU user income were “not going to retrieve to their pre-Brexit levels” and nan storage would beryllium operating astatine a loss.

“To opportunity nan Brexit process was gritty is an understatement,” said Lowe. “Within 12 months of having sewage it up and running, we conscionable had to return this determination to adjacent it because it wasn’t covering its costs.”

Cycloc’s products are still being sold nonstop to customers successful nan EU via an “import one-stop shop” successful Ireland, an automated work to screen analyzable VAT compliance procedures.

Its acquisition is not unsocial and highlights nan continuing harm Brexit is causing mini exporters who cannot easy sorb nan caller administrative load arsenic easy arsenic large businesses.

Cycloc’s acquisition mirrors that of nan Cheshire Cheese Company, which made headlines each complete nan world successful 2021, erstwhile it declared Brexit had costs it £250,000 successful mislaid revenue starring a authorities curate to propose it look to nan world marketplace to plug nan Brexit hole. Last November, its proprietor Simon Spurrell, said those losses had ballooned to £600,000 and he had sold nan patient to a larger rival to amended his entree to nan azygous market.

Lang besides tells of nan wider effect Brexit has had, diverting nan company’s energies from increasing its merchandise range. “We person astir half a twelve products successful nan pipeline that are successful a very precocious shape but we’ve not been capable to perpetrate nan superior to bring those to nan marketplace yet because of nan different Brexit costs and problems we’ve been confronted with,” he said.

Reflecting connected nan difficult determination to adjacent nan storage operation, Lang said he could not understand why nan authorities did not support small-scale British manufacturers for illustration him more.

The business is now trying to “pivot beautiful quickly” to caller markets successful nan US, Asia, Australia and South Africa, said Patron McCleary, caput of marketing, but nan “learning” to get into those markets is besides a drain connected resources.

“In places for illustration China aliases Hong Kong I’m having to study a batch astir nan culture, astir buying habits, and really British products are viewed. It would person been easier successful Europe, but because of really bad nan Brexit really was, we’ve really had to beryllium rather reactive alternatively than being proactive,” he said.

The authorities did not remark connected Cycloc’s experience. A spokesperson said nan Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) it signed successful December 2020 was “the world’s largest zero-tariff and zero-quota deal” and it had established nan Export Support Services “so businesses tin make nan astir of nan TCA”.

They added that nan UK was further investing to make exports easier and caller information showed waste and acquisition to nan EU was up 0.5% connected nan 3rd 4th of 2019.