10 Things I Know
Will Butler-Adams, managing director of Brompton Bicycle
On fate, folding bikes, proving yourself, and why the best thing you can do for young people is give them responsibility.
Will Butler-Adams runs Brompton Bicycle, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of folding bikes. All Brompton bicycles are built in their factory in West London, one of only two frame manufacturers still based in the UK. Today Brompton bicycles are sold in 42 countries.
There is more for me to do and in many respects this is driven by a desire to prove myself. Academia was never my strong point. Up until the age of 13 life for me was not about learning but having fun. I was in the ‘fick’ classes. I suppose I am still shaking that off.
It is Andrew Ritchie, inventor of the Brompton Bike, we can thank for creating the Brompton. What I have done is taken his baby and helped her grow up. I recognised what skills the business needed, recruited the right people with those skills and gave them the space to do their job.
Many years ago I took a ride on a bus and got talking to the man next to me who was the chairman of Brompton Bicycle, Tim Guinness. He was looking for someone just like me. I put my plans for an MBA on hold and grasped the opportunity. Meeting Tim Guinness was extreme fate.
My first project for ICI was to redesign an agitator bearing housing. It was the most expensive, over engineered and nearly not on time solution to the problem. It was then that I realised I was not being paid to do the work but to deliver the project on time, on budget and fit for purpose.
In my case I think innovation is a generous term. All that I did was do what others have done before me. The trick is to recognise this and go and find the information and the things not to do and apply them to your business.
We make damn good bikes that add value to your life…it is cool!
Give young people responsibility mentally and commercially to prove what they are capable of. Be there to offer support but not to judge and encourage them to take risks.
Do not be afraid to take risks and be confident enough not to follow the crowd.
Do you ever take time to reflect on where you are, to sit back and enjoy? I’m not there yet.
"We make damn good bikes that add value to your life…it is cool!"
From the Archive — This interview was originally published in Issue 1, March 2014 (March 2014). Roles, titles, and views expressed were accurate at the time of the original interview and may have since changed.
Enjoyed this interview?
Get every "10 Things I Know" interview in your inbox. Free, fortnightly.