Beloved children's bike brand facing administration amid issues 'compounded by Brexit'

Children’s bike manufacturer Frog Bikes is facing administration after years of strain on the business.

First reported by The Telegraph, the British company filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators earlier this month as a “precautionary measure”, its founder said. The decision comes against an industry backdrop of rising costs, low consumer spending, and tighter financial constraints.

“This step offers short-term protection to allow the business to explore potential funding and restructuring solutions in an orderly manner,” founder Jerry Lawson said in a statement shared with Cycling Weekly.

It is not certain that the business will go on to enter administration or liquidate.

Lawson, who co-founded Frog Bikes with his wife Shelley in 2013, said the company saw “exceptional growth” during the Covid pandemic, but has since struggled with a “series of significant and well-documented challenges”, such as supply chain disruption and growing industry costs.

These challenges, he added, were “compounded by the effects of Brexit, which added further complexity, cost, and uncertainty to international trade and disruption”.

Following the pandemic the company made a £250,000 pre-tax profit, but slumped to losses of £500,000 in the year to February 2022. At the time, the directors cited the “continuing friction” caused by the UK leaving the EU, a factor they noted again the following year, when the company halved its losses.

Frog Bikes’ most recent accounts, however, which cover the year to the end of February 2024, showed a return to profit of £200,000. The company employed 62 people at the time.

Lawson stressed there is still a strong demand for the company’s range of lightweight bikes specifically made for children. “The business remains the clear market leader in premium children’s bikes in the UK and continues to be trusted by parents and loved by children,” he said.

Frog Bikes has been searching for investors to help grow the business, but has been unable to find partners.

“Frog Bikes is continuing to trade while all options for the future of the company are being explored,” Lawson said. “The notice [of intention to appoint administrators] provides short-term protection for the business while this process takes place. All parties are committed to securing a positive outcome for the business, its employees and wider stakeholders.”

A study led by the UK charity Sustrans in late 2024 found that 17% of boys aged six to 15, and 8% of girls, consider themselves as “someone who cycles often”.