Sheffield metals skills help Brompton build lightest ever folding bike
The firm created ‘Brompton Fletcher,’ a 17-strong factory on the site of historic manufacturer C W Fletcher in Wales Bar, to create titanium frames for its new ’T Line’.
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Hide AdThey are precision-engineered and orbital and tig-welded for strength and 37 per cent lighter than the steel equivalent and just as strong, the company says.
C W Fletcher is 129 years old but still at the cutting edge. In 2019 it won a £165m contract to make jet engine parts for Rolls Royce.


Paul Williams, chief operations officer at Brompton, said finding the right partner was critical.
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Hide AdHe added: “Working with titanium takes a high level of knowledge, experience and diligence, so finding the right partner who shared our vision and belief in what could be achieved with titanium was critical.
“Our relationship with C W Fletcher, based in Sheffield, started over seven years ago and they have a long history in manufacturing going back over 100 years.


“With them we built Brompton Fletcher, a dedicated company with a purpose-built production facility and skilled team able to work with this demanding material and fabricate these fantastic titanium frames.”
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Hide AdBrompton bikes are sold in 47 countries and more than 70 per cent of production is exported.
The company produces 70,000 bikes a year and more than 500,000 have hit the roads since the first was made in 1975 by inventor Andrew Ritchie.

