Podcast appearances and mentions of will butler adams

A wintry BH amid warnings for snow, ice and freezing rain. BH listeners tell us how they're looking out for their neighbours. Authors Lee Child and Mick Herron discuss how to adapt novels to the big screen. Maggie Philbin of Tomorrow's World fame explains the difficulty of predicting the future, and on the papers – Brompton Bike's Will Butler Adams, the Sun on Sunday's Kate Ferguson and Gawain Towler, Reform's former press man.

In this episode of The Good Growth podcast, we hear from Will Butler-Adams, CEO of Brompton Bicycle. Few bikes are as recognisable as the Brompton with its foldable design favoured by commuters, making travelling around cities a breeze. Tune in to learn about their global growth ambitions, how running a business is much like a game of whack-a-mole and why success lies in putting people and planet first.  

In this insightful podcast episode, Bessie engages in a candid conversation with Will Butler-Adams, the CEO of Brompton Bicycle, to delve into the world of cycling innovation, brand building, and the unique journey of Brompton Bicycle. Will shares valuable insights into the philosophy behind Brompton, emphasizing the importance of a long-term commitment to customers and the community. This episode offers a unique perspective on how a brand like Brompton Bicycle is not just about bikes but about making a lasting impact.Key Highlights:•Origins and Philosophy: Will shares the philosophy behind Brompton Bicycle, emphasizing the commitment to quality, long-term relationships with customers, and the brand's contribution to making the world a better place.•China Expansion: Will reflects on Brompton's experience in China, highlighting the positive shift towards using bikes as a mode of transport and addressing challenges in urban mobility.•Innovation and Engineering: The conversation explores Brompton's approach to innovation, the challenges faced. Will, an engineer at heart, discusses Brompton's global presence and the challenges of compliance in different countries, highlighting the importance of adapting solutions to meet diverse needs.•Bike Hire Initiative: Will explains the strategy behind Brompton Bike Hire, its role in increasing brand awareness, and how it acts as a bridge for potential customers to experience the product before purchasing.•Community Focus: The episode touches on the significance of community building, as seen through Brompton's stores in Beijing and Shanghai, where space is dedicated to fostering a sense of community among customers.•Sustainable Business Practice: Will shares his views on the role of businesses in contributing positively to the planet and the community, emphasizing the importance of a long-term, sustainable approach.【本节目由Withinlink碚曦投资协作体出品】【嘉宾】Will Butler-AdamsCEO，Brompton Bicycle【主持】李倩玲 Bessie Lee广告营销行业资深从业者，商业观察者【后期制作】小朱【收听方式】推荐您使用Apple Podcast、小宇宙APP、喜马拉雅、汽水儿APP、荔枝播客、网易云音乐、QQ音乐、Spotify或任意泛用型播客客户端订阅收听《贝望录》。【互动方式】微博：@贝望录微信公众号：贝望录+商务合作：beiwanglu@withinlink.com

In this episode, I'm honored to connect with Will Butler-Adams, the CEO of Brompton Bicycles, about the role that the humble bicycle is playing in addressing the most pressing issues we face globally, from health, well-being, loneliness, unproductive and financially unsustainable urban environments and yes, climate change.And a HUGE thank you to Ryan Van Duzer for letting me create a makeshift studio in the finished basement of his new home. Thank you so much, my friend! Hey, and y'all should check out his amazing channel here Thank you so much for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and subscribe to the Podcast on your preferred listening platform, and don't forget to check out the Active Towns Channel for more contentHelpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):- Brompton US website- Brompton UK website- Activism landing page- Brompton Junction- Brompton Hire programIf you are a fan of the Active Towns Podcast, please consider supporting the effort as an Active Towns Ambassador in the following ways:1. Join our Patreon community. Contributions start at just $1 per month(Note: Patron benefits include early, ad-free access to content and a 15% discount in the Active Towns Merch Store)2. If you enjoyed this episode, you can also "leave a tip" thru "Buy Me a Coffee"3. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my storeCredits:- Video and audio production by John Simmerman- Music via Epidemic SoundResources used during the production of this video:- My recording platform is Ecamm Live- Editing software Adobe Creative Cloud Suite- Equipment: Contact me for a complete listFor more information about the Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit our links below:- Active Towns Website- Active Towns on Twitter- Periodic e-NewsletterBackground:Hi Everyone! My name is John Simmerman, and I'm a health promotion and public health professional with over 30 years of experience. Over the years, my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization in how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.Since 2010,  I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be while striving to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."The Active Towns Channel features my original video content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them. Thanks once again for tuning in! I hope you find this content helpful and insightful.Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2023 ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

On our last episode, we mentioned the brief cameo that a Brompton folding bicycle had on season 2 of Ted Lasso and why that bicycle model in particular was a very deliberate choice meant to convey something special about the character who rides it, Dr. Sharon Fieldstone.   For this bonus episode just for Patreon supporters, we talk with Brompton's Managing Director, Will Butler-Adams, about the chance meeting that brought him to the iconic British bicycle company, where the bike industry fits into safe streets advocacy, his thoughts on building cities for people and why his company's iconic and quirky machine is the "Swiss Army knife of bikes."   ***This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive, ad-free bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.***

This is a special episode of the Optical Entrepreneur, we've refreshed the format so that we can take you even more behind the scenes of Jones And Co. Styling Opticians and give you even more sneak peeks into Optical Success Academy and what we're working on with our members.  Every year in Optical Success Academy we hold an annual conference for our community of independent optometrists, opticians, and practice owners. We go out of our way to make this an amazing event over a couple of days. This episode of a snippet of one of those events. In this episode you will hear a Q&A with one of our keynote speakers, Will Butler-Adams director and CEO of Brompton Bikes, the iconic folding bike. Will is one our favourite ever keynote speakers and you will hear Will and Conor field question that were asked by our members at the event. This special episode is packed full of lessons that are still critically important today, that you'll get a ton of value from. Enjoy!

In this episode we are joined by Will Butler-Adams, Chief Executive Officer of Brompton Bicycle. The story behind the business is an interesting one which dates back 50 years to when Andrew Ritchie was in his flat overlooking the Brompton oratory. He believed there was a better way to move around the city. Wind forward to today, the business is unrecognisable and run from their enormous factory in Greenford.We discuss his engineering background, founding the company and his vision and goals for Brompton Bicycle. For further information please visit www.waverton.co.ukLinkedIn:Doug Barnett – https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-barnett-a475b820/ Will Butler-Adams – https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-butler-adams-obe-ceng-frgs-fcgi-fimeche-b05651b/This podcast is issued by Waverton Investment Management Limited, 16 Babmaes Street, London, SW1Y 6AH. Registered in England No. 2042285. Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The information provided in this podcast is for information purposes only and Waverton Investment Management Limited does not accept liability for any loss or damage which may arise directly or indirectly out of use or reliance by the client, or anyone else, on the information contained in this recording. This podcast should be used as a guide only is based on our current views of markets and is subject to change. The information provided does not constitute investment advice and it should not be relied on as such. It should not be considered a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell a security. It does not take into account any investor's particular investment objectives, strategies, tax status or investment horizon. Where Waverton's advice is given it is restricted to discretionary investment management services. We do not provide advice on the use of tax or financial planning products (even if the service which we are managing is held within such a product) or non-discretionary investment. All materials have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy is not guaranteed. There is no representation or warranty as to the current accuracy of, nor liability for, decisions based on such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will Butler-Adams joined legendary folding bike manufacturer Brompton Bicycles aged 28 after a meeting with the chairman on a coach, he became managing director/CEO five years later in 2008 and is still running the still-growing show 15 years on. In Anthony's final episode on the podcast, he and James sit down with Butler-Adams to discuss innovation, e-bikes and cycling politics.Interview begins at 6m40scyclist.co.ukDid you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly magazine? And if you subscribe now you'll receive a FREE Sportful Hot Pack Easylight Gilet worth £75!Subscribe here: store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod_________This episode is brought to you by GCN+, the home of live bike racing. Right now a 12 month subscription is less than half the price of a monthly subscription, and all our UK listeners can get a further 15% off that by visiting gcn.eu/cyclist15_________This episode is also supported by H.V.M.N, the creators of Ketone-IQ.We hear a lot about ketones in the pro peloton, but what are they?According to the experts H.V.M.N, ketones are a natural source of fuel for your body. When stored carbs are depleted, your body starts to convert fat into ketones. Studies show that ketones are 28% more efficient than glucose, making them a super-efficient fuel source for the brain and the body.These benefits led H.V.M.N to create Ketone-IQ: a drinkable ketone designed to support energy, focus and endurance.Developed alongside the U.S. military, Ketone-IQ is one of the most powerful ketone supplements on the market. It's designed to elevate your ketone levels for up to 4 hours – much longer than other products. Plus, it's vegan, caffeine free, and compliant with the World Anti-Doping Agency's guidelines. That's a major win for athletes.Ketone-IQ Shots are the best way to get your ketones on the go. They're portable, convenient, and fit perfectly in your pocket during a ride or a race.You can save 20% on Ketone-IQ using the promo code CYCLIST at https://hvmn.com/CYCLIST?To learn more about achieving your ultimate metabolic potential, subscribe to H.V.M.N's podcast “Health Via Modern Nutrition with Dr. Latt Mansor” on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube. See hvmn.com for more detailsClick here for more on the Cyclist Magazine PodcastClick here to subscribe to Cyclist Magazine now Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Innovation in business isn't just your product, it's how you recruit, it's the culture you have in your organisation. In this episode, The Barton Partnership's Founder and CEO, Nicholas Barton sits down with Will Butler-Adams, the CEO of Brompton Bicycle, to discuss the critical elements of successful leadership in a rapidly changing business world.Having been with the company for two decades and serving as CEO for the last 14 years, Will draws on his extensive experience, sharing valuable insights on what it takes to lead with humility and passion, the importance of trusting and empowering your team, and Brompton's mission to redefine urban transportation. 

It's that time of year again when we track back over the nineteen podcasts released so far this year (with more still to come before 2023) and pick out some of the best bits to string together into an end-of-year compilation.This is always a difficult task, but this year it has proved to be even more so, with some amazing guests providing brilliant thought pieces within the pods. That said, I had to pick some favourite clips out, and this podcast takes you back through the year, starting in February 2022 and finishing with a clip from just a few weeks ago. In the podcast, you will hear from Industrial Designer Jonathan Robin, talking first about the difficulty of that middle stage of any design project, which can feel like wading through treacle until you can see the light on the other side, and then discussing the 'theatre' of some designs and why keeping it simple is more likely to produce a classic design of note that will stand the test of time. George Cave (interaction magic) speaks of how D&T A Level set him on a path to where he is today and discusses the importance of empathy and emotion in design. " "Never mind how it looks for a moment; how does it make you feel?"Jamie Robinson (Mashoom) asks why we ask teenagers, "what are they going to do with their life" and the importance of solid foundations that you can build on later.Matthew Cockerill explains what lies "left of brief" and why it is so important to carefully consider this before driving on with possible solutions to an identified problem. And then discusses how Design can be a significant part of the solution to many of the environmental issues that the earth currently faces. Professor Ian Green MBE discusses why it is important for business and industry to work closely with education if we are to have any chance of improving diversity figures and making a career in engineering/manufacturing attractive to as wide a talent pool as possible. Carra Santos MSc talks of the importance of creativity within education as we seek to prepare young people to take their place in a challenging, troubled and fast-changing world.And we end with a gem of a quotation from the podcast with Will Butler-Adams, CBE Chief Executive Officer at Brompton Bicycle Ltd. I would like to thank all the above and all guests of Designed for Life across 2022 for their expert input and for making themselves available to chat on the podcast; you are all amazing! Finally, I would like to thank all listeners for your support over the year. Together with our sponsors, The Edge Foundation and PTC Onshape, we have even more ambitious plans for 2023! Until then, please do take care. 

If you are intrigued by the art of leadership, especially how to lead an organisation through a period of profound change successfully, then you will love this podcast. If you are fascinated by the sheer art and skill required to manufacture anything that is high in quality and is designed and built to last, then you will love this podcast.If you find yourself conflicted between a societal push to consume more goods (requiring more 'stuff' to be manufactured) and the desire held by an increasing number of companies who are 'value led' and want to do the right thing, not only for the bottom line but also for the environment, then you will love this podcast. And finally, if you own a Brompton bike, or have ever considered owning this iconic means of transportation, then you will love this podcast. In this conversation, Will Butler-Adams, CEO of Brompton Bicycles Ltd., takes us on his journey from school, through a near-death experience in the Amazon and how this changed his outlook on life, to a chance meeting on a bus within which he was encouraged to come and take a look at how we make 'the Brommie'. The rest is history, as Will has led the company from handcrafting around 5,000 bikes per year to its current manufacturing capacity of over 90,000 and sales worldwide. This is a fascinating tale of picking up the design of an engineering genius (Andrew Ritchie MBE- founder and inventor of the Brompton) and plotting growth and development that has made the Brompton a British manufacturing success story. We recorded too much good material to lose in the edit but equally too much to cram into one podcast. So welcome to part one of this interview; part two will follow towards the end of this week. So grab a coffee, pull up a comfy chair, put us in your ears as you travel to work, work out in the gym or walk the dog, and enjoy Designed for Life - in conversation with Will Butler Adams OBE. This podcast has been recorded with the help of our sponsors, The Edge Foundation https://www.edge.co.uk/ inspiring the education system to give all young people across the UK the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to flourish in their future life and work and PTC Onshape Providing industry-standard cloud-based CAD to education  https://www.ptc.com/en/news/2020/ptc-onshape-education-enterprise-plan-available-free-of-charge. We are indebted to The Edge and PTC Onshape for their continued support.Read the book we refer to in this podcast, 'The Brompton, Engineering for Change' By Will Butler- Adams and Dan Davies. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brompton-Engineering-Change-Will-Butler-Adams/dp/1788168305/ref=sr_1_3?crid=GUMDGEIQW4JM&keywords=the+brompton&qid=1669723543&sprefix=the+brompton%2Caps%2C64&sr=8-3

If you are intrigued by the art of leadership, especially how to lead an organisation through a period of profound change successfully, then you will love this podcast. If you are fascinated by the sheer art and skill required to manufacture anything that is high in quality and is designed and built to last, then you will love this podcast.If you find yourself conflicted between a societal push to consume more goods (requiring more 'stuff' to be manufactured) and the desire held by an increasing number of companies who are 'value led' and want to do the right thing, not only for the bottom line but also for the environment, then you will love this podcast. And finally, if you own a Brompton bike, or have ever considered owning this iconic means of transportation, then you will love this podcast. In this conversation, Will Butler-Adams, CEO of Brompton Bicycles Ltd., takes us on his journey from school, through a near-death experience in the Amazon and how this changed his outlook on life, to a chance meeting on a bus within which he was encouraged to come and take a look at how we make 'the Brommie'. The rest is history, as Will has led the company from handcrafting around 5,000 bikes per year to its current manufacturing capacity of over 90,000 and sales worldwide. This is a fascinating tale of picking up the design of an engineering genius (Andrew Ritchie MBE- founder and inventor of the Brompton) and plotting growth and development that has made the Brompton a British manufacturing success story. We recorded too much good material to lose in the edit but equally too much to cram into one podcast. So welcome to part two of this interview; part one was released earlier this week. So grab a coffee, pull up a comfy chair, put us in your ears as you travel to work, work out in the gym or walk the dog, and enjoy Designed for Life - in conversation with Will Butler Adams OBE. This podcast has been recorded with the help of our sponsors, The Edge Foundation https://www.edge.co.uk/ inspiring the education system to give all young people across the UK the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to flourish in their future life and work and PTC Onshape Providing industry-standard cloud-based CAD to education  https://www.ptc.com/en/news/2020/ptc-onshape-education-enterprise-plan-available-free-of-charge. We are indebted to The Edge and PTC Onshape for their continued support.Read the book we refer to in this podcast, 'The Brompton, Engineering for Change' By Will Butler- Adams and Dan Davies. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brompton-Engineering-Change-Will-Butler-Adams/dp/1788168305/ref=sr_1_3?crid=GUMDGEIQW4JM&keywords=the+brompton&qid=1669723543&sprefix=the+brompton%2Caps%2C64&sr=8-3

In this thought-provoking interview series from the RSA, Matthew Taylor, puts a range of leading thinkers on the spot - from writers to business leaders, politicians to journalists - by asking for big ideas to help build effective bridges to our new future. Matthew meets with Will Butler-Adams, the CEO of Brompton Bicycles, originally a small British company that has grown to become one of the biggest cycling brand names in the world.Will discusses the challenge of producing intricate folding bikes at scale, why passion is key to his success and why he's convinced that bikes can help solve global problems and improve our lives. Will Butler-Adams is a chartered engineer and CEO of Brompton Bicycle Limited. He was appointed OBE in the 2015 New Year Honours, featured in multiple publications including the Financial Times, and delivered talks forGoogle and PwC. His latest book is, The Brompton: Engineering for Change (with Dan Davies). A Tempo & Talker production for the RSA. In this time of global change, strong communities and initiatives that bring people together are more invaluable than ever before. The RSA Fellowship is a global network of problem solvers. We invite you to join our community today to stay connected, inspired and motivated in the months ahead. You can learn more about the Fellowship or start an application by clicking here.

Brompton makes 100,000 foldable bikes in London every year and exports about 75% of them. Chief executive Will Butler-Adams tells us how he grew the business around the world. He also explains how he's navigating inflation, and the prospect of recession. Plus, why he believes his mission is not simply to sell more bikes, but to change how people live in cities around the globe. Producer/presenter: James Graham Photo: Will Butler-Adams on a Brompton bike at his London factory. Credit: Brompton.

How do you lead a team to success, inspiring every single person and empowering them to deliver their work to the very best of their ability? In this episode, Will Butler Adams, CEO of Brompton Bikes shares not only his ethos to leadership, but exactly how to implement it — and it really gets Holly thinking.  Her approach to leadership has changed and developed immensely over her 20 year career. Is 28-year-old Holly who founded notonthehighstreet, the same Holly who now leads the small business movement in the UK today? Hardly.  Hear her thoughts on how, as small businesses grow from being a team of one or two, to what might one day be a workforce of many, it's vital to evolve your leadership style as you go. Far from being a dark art or a skill someone is born with, Will believes the key to unlocking your leadership potential ultimately comes from the culture you are building within your business. Whether you have just one member or staff or 100, his tangible approach is inspiring and achievable for us all. No wonder Holly was so impressed.  You can listen to Will Butler Adam's full episode here.  Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? Subscribe to Holly's weekly newsletters on our website, where she shares small business inspiration of all kinds, exclusive nuggets of wisdom from her and her guests, plus offers, creative ideas and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

Will Butler-Adams joined Brompton in 2002, became director in 2006, and took over as MD in 2008 and at this time has grown the company from a £2mil turnover with 27 staff to a £90 mil turnover with over 800 staff. They create urban freedom for happier lives.  Brompton exports over 75% of its bikes to 47 countries through 1600 independent bike stores. They are the distributor in nineteen of those countries, supported by ten of their flagship stores from Milan to New York and Shanghai to Paris. They have about 850k customers whizzing about on their Bromptons across the world. He is a Chartered Engineer, passionate about all things engineering, having previously worked for DuPoint, Nissan, and ICI. He is married with three daughters and lives near Marlow. He was awarded an OBE by the Queen in 2015 for services to Industry. He is interested in education, is a Fellow of the City and Guilds Institute, and a visiting lecturer at Imperial College where he was awarded an Honorary Degree in December 2019.  KEY TAKEAWAYS We are all on the same path. Some are in front of us, some are behind us but in the end, we live the same life. We shouldn't sell a dream. As business leaders, we need to take responsibility to encourage our customers and take responsibility to sell them things a really useful for them that last a long time in order to add value to their life. BEST MOMENTS “We haven't created the community consciously. We've just been honest about the product and we've been really careful about selling it to people for whom it is appropriate. And if you want to build a brand, you really need to care about not selling but about looking after the customer life of the product. And therefore, if you are good at selling, you can sell anything to anybody. But in many cases, there are people for whom Brompton just is not the right product. That's fine. But don't sell it to them because they never love it. But there are many other people who don't even realise they need a Brompton in their life and if they had one, they'd love it. So, we've spent quite a lot of time telling our sales team or distributors who not to sell a bike to as much as who to sell a bike to which is unusual.” “We've got some big global challenges. We need to design beautifully, considerate, useful products that last a long time, and then we can co-exist. But just sell, sell, sell, make, make, make, that is not right.” “Leadership is about a vision and about articulating at the highest level of what we're trying to achieve. Why are we getting out of bed? Why are coming together? Why are we giving up time with our friends and family to be together?  Because we have ambition and mission. We're trying to achieve something.” “I'm not a big fan of marketing in its traditional sense because it is encouraging us to consume more stuff than we need. More than that, most marketing is telling untruths. It is not being honest. It is exaggerating the value of the product.” “Just do it. It is really important because what gonna happen with a lot of people is just so intimidated. The more research they do, they get more intimidating. Just get out there. Go for a few days. Realise it is fine and then start proper work. That's how we did it.” ABOUT THE HOST Levent Yildizgoren, the author of 'Good Business in any Language', is an award-winning entrepreneur, localisation professional, and a PRINCE2 qualified project manager. CONTACT METHOD Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/leventyildizgoren/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/yildizgoren IG: https://www.instagram.com/levent.yildizgoren/ ABOUT THE GUEST William Butler-Adams OBE CEng is the Chief Executive Officer of Brompton Bicycle. He was awarded an OBE by the Queen in 2015 for services to Industry. He is interested in education, is a Fellow of the City and Guilds Institute, and a visiting lecturer at Imperial College where he was awarded an Honorary Degree in December 2019.  CONTACT METHOD https://www.brompton.com/ https://www.youtube.com/user/bromptonbicycle VALUABLE RESOURCES Do you have any questions about translation, localization, or international growth? Visit TTC website: https://ttcwetranslate.com/ Are you curious about how ready you are to go global? Take TTC wetranslate's Scorecard: https://global.scoreapp.com/ Take your business global with the 5-step LINGO modal! Purchase 'Good Business in any Language' on Amazon now: https://cutt.ly/2ORR

In this episode Will Butler-Adams joins us and reveals his true leadership style and how it ensures all of his staff are motivated and proud to work for Brompton. We also get an insight into Will's controversial opinion on the value of marketing and how it should really be thought about if you want to be successful, what and who has shaped Will, but most importantly we were lucky enough to see Will's humble nature and incredible outlook on how he approaches life. Sponsored by School of Marketing, delivering digital and data-led marketing apprenticeships and training.

Will Butler-Adams is the CEO of Brompton Bicycle, the manufacturer of the world-renowned Brompton folding bike. The Brompton is beloved by urban cyclists around the world and is for many the embodiment of city living.

How do we make cycling - as a sport and a way of life - as diverse as possible? That's the central question in Rouleur edition 106 - The Empowerment Issue. And it's the theme of this podcast. We hear from cycling coach Thea Smith on how her club is trying to attract more women, non-binary and trans people through the gates of the venerable velodrome in London's Herne Hill. And from Will Butler-Adams of Brompton on how the bike industry has a vital role to play in rebuilding society after the pandemic. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In episode 16, “Accelerating the UK active travel market” we explored one of the most exciting areas of growth and opportunity within urban mobility, and why it matters so much to the Connected Places Catapult, and the future of healthy, connected and net zero places. Active travel is about creating options for us to move more. This can have a massive impact on our physical and mental health, the air quality in our overly congested cities by getting more commuters out of cars and onto bikes and footpaths, and the UK's collective effort of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. In this episode we kick off a series of conversations we've been having with businesses, place leaders and experts in active travel. We ask what seizing this potentially huge opportunity for economic growth and public health and wellbeing looks like around the country. How do we design our cities for more active travel? How do we ensure that change is led by communities and accessible to all? And where are the opportunities, at home and abroad, for government and industry to get ahead of the curve? We begin by speaking to Dame Sarah Storey, one of the most decorated British athletes of all time and the Active Travel Commissioner for the Sheffield City Region. We also hear from Will Butler-Adams, CEO of Brompton Bikes, one of Britain's best known cycling brands and sold all over the world. Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com) Show notes To find out more about the Sheffield City Region's active travel programme, check out their Active Travel Implementation Plan, as well as the region's interactive Active Travel Map. You can click on these links to read the two UK government reports that are referenced in the episode – Gear Change: A Bold Vision for Cycling and Transport, and Decarbonising Transport: Setting The Challenge. To read and download the Catapult's Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, which explores a number of new market opportunities in the active travel sector, click here. On the 23rd June we're running an event on Connecting Homes for Healthy Ageing as part of our multi-year Homes for Healthy Ageing Programme which is contributing towards the UK Government's goal of supporting older people to live at home independently for 5+ years longer. We'll be exploring the barriers and opportunities for leveraging innovation to overcome the existing healthy ageing challenges in the UK. To register for free, click here.  On the 1st July we'll also be launching our UK Cities Climate Investment Commission, in partnership with Core Cities and London Councils. We'll be presenting some early-stage findings on the estimated Net Zero investment need of the UK's Cities. It's a piece of work that we've commissioned in the run-up to the COP26 Climate Change Summit in Glasgow later this year. To register for free, click here. To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, please sign up to our newsletter!

In this episode, Anna Jordan talks to Will Butler-Adams, managing director of Brompton Bikes. We discuss taking over the company from its founder and the future of manufacturing.   You can also visit smallbusiness.co.uk for more on business succession and international trade. Remember to like us on Facebook @SmallBusinessExperts and follow us on Twitter @smallbusinessuk, all lower case. Would you prefer to read Will Butler Adams' podcast interview instead? Hello and welcome to Small Business Snippets, the podcast from SmallBusiness.co.uk. I’m your host, Anna Jordan. Today we have Will Butler-Adams, managing director of Brompton Bikes. He started at Brompton in 2002 as a project manager, moved up to engineer director and decided to take on the role of MD when a rival company was going to buy the company out in 2008. After making some changes, production sped up and Brompton now sells 55,000 bikes per year, with key markets in the UK and China. A UK-based Brompton bike hire scheme was launched in 2011. Outside of the firm, Butler-Adams is a fellow at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and the Royal Geographical Society as well as the City and Guilds of London Institute. He’s also a member of the British Manufacturing & Consumer Trade Advisory Group, consulting on post-Brexit trade deals outside the EU. We’ll be discussing what it’s like to take over a business from its founder and how to maintain brand loyalty. Anna: Hi Will. Will: Anna, good morning. Anna: How are you? Will: Well, very lucky. In the current climate, as we are seeing, some really, really challenging times both emotionally and also commercially, for many people globally. It's a pretty unprecedented time and we are finding ourselves as a business, one of the few sectors that has benefited from the current crisis. Anna: I understand you're in the factory right now. Will: Yep, I'm in the factory. We've traded non-stop throughout from the very first lockdown. And that has come with all sorts of challenges. But funnily enough, and we'll talk about a little bit more no doubt, that bicycle is a very, very useful tool in a situation like this. And there has been this sort of global enlightenment, to the value of something so humble as a bicycle. So, you know, we've contributed in our own peculiar way to try and to help people through this crisis. Well, I will start a little bit further back from here. When you when you bought the company, way back in 2008, you made a generous valuation estimate and you bought out the founder Andrew Ritchie's controlling stake in the company. Some might see that as a bold strategy. Why did you go for it at the time? Will: I joined the company in 2002, there were about 30 of us. Initially, I just thought I was going to muck about with a mad inventor making what looked like a fun and interesting product, not much more than that. And then [after] two or three years I'd move on. I was pretty young at 28, but the bike got under my skin and it affected my life. I wasn't naturally an urban liver. And yet, it's such fun living in London with this bike because it gave me this freedom. And I saw it had a similar, quite profound effects on our customers. That's very alluring and, in some respects, addictive. I was consumed by the company, entirely consumed by it. And Andrew, the inventor, is an absolute flipping genius. But he's not a builder of a business because he is much more of a sort of complete megalomaniac, detail, engineering right down in the nitty gritty. We're both engineers, but I'm more of a ‘vision, empowerment and grow’ engineer. And I wanted, by the time we got to 2008 – in fact, 2006 or 2007 – I wanted to commit my life to the product he'd invented, but I couldn't do it if he still had the control. The reality is that, even if you've made me the MD back then I wouldn't have had the control that I needed to do what I needed to do because I knew I needed to do things that he wouldn't approve of. He had to let go of control. It didn't mean I was then taking control because I never did. I just took out his controlling stake. But it then meant I had authority and autonomy to do what I knew needed to happen to the business for it to fulfil its potential. Were there signs that he [Ritchie] may have been getting to the point where he was more willing to give over some of the control? From what I've read, he was quite reluctant to delegate when he was in charge. Anna: Life isn't black and white. It's full of moments in time, and people, and there's a certain amount of luck. And it's whether you see the opportunity or the luck floating by and whether you jump on to it. But in this particular case, I think it was a moment in time where Andrew was getting so caught up in the detail. And when a business gets to a certain size, if you're trying to control everything, you've become the eye of the needle, and everything has to go through you. And you think that by recruiting people that you will find that then, you have less work to do. But if you are the person who is controlling everything, everything has to come through you. And by recruiting more people, you find you're even busier. That's what happened to Andrew: he got busier and busier and busier. It was making him unhappy. Because he was putting himself under so much pressure, there was a sort of nosedive where he was not enjoying himself because the business was becoming so successful. Also, I was being more confident. In the early days, the company was owned by him and his friends. His friends weren't Andrews. They were entrepreneurial, independent businesspeople in their own right. They could see and bring perspective and support Andrew to make the decision because they could see there was no way he could continue, because it wasn't his forte. So, they encouraged him to let go. It's worth saying that on many occasions, since then, he's vehemently regretted it because I've done things of course, which I knew I'd have to do that he didn't agree with. Tell me – what kind of protestations did he have? Will: It's about detail. Andrew is an inventor – in the absolute classic sense of the word. He spent 13 years, he hand-drew 1000s of drawings – technical drawings – not just for the bike, but how to make the bike and in insane detail. It’s something straight out of A Beautiful Mind. It's unreal that one human being could do what he did against a sort of backlog of everyone telling him, ‘What are you doing, wasting your time? You've tried, you fail, you're still at it, why are you still at it?’ He wouldn't give up. But he would worry about training and worry about tolerances, worrying about the grammar and would pick up on some problem, you know, six pages deep in our website, and ask me, ‘How would I let this happen?’ It's wrong, but in the grand scheme of things, when you're running a business and trying to do this and open up markets in Japan and an office in London developing this, he assumed that I would know everything and check every piece of written word and that I'd signed off every detail, but it doesn't happen like that. You have to find people better than you, you need to trust them, you need to allow them to make mistakes, just not mistakes that will take out the business. But his perception is that I was running the business – when it had 100 people, 200 people, 300 people, 400 people – in the same way that he ran the business when it had 40 people. That's just not possible. So that was the friction, and in some respects, still is a friction. In most cases, everything Andrew said was technically correct. It just wasn't the priority. And the problem is, when you're running a business and you're growing at some speed, you actually have to walk past things that are wrong. You're walking straight past something that is absolutely wrong. Unacceptable, not right. But you have to leave it because there's an even bigger wrong over there. You need to deal with the biggest [wrong]. It gives me huge pleasure that there are some things that I've been walking past for eight, nine, ten years. Finally, we've got the breadth and the capacity as a business to finally address some of these things that have been bugging me. But if you get distracted by every minutiae, as you're growing a business, you won't move the business forward because you'll never get to the most important thing that then allows you to move on to the lesser things and as you build down through the priority list. I think especially when you're starting a business, you're so used to playing all the roles, so that can be difficult to let go of. But interestingly, in Brompton’s case, when I joined, there were fewer than 30 people. I was the person running the machines. I rolled my sleeves up, spent three weeks running machines. The business was so small that that is what I did. That role has changed significantly. We now have offices around the world and we've got lots of people and I'm really doing nothing. That's a really tough call to design yourself out of a job, because there is no operational control in my role. Speaking of internationally – and you probably saw this coming – but I'd like to talk a bit about Brexit. We’re a week and a half in now. It's been ‘chaotic’, in a word, especially for exporters. I think that as somebody who has worked to advise on trade deals, and who wants to grow their market in other parts of Europe, especially for small business exporters, what do you think the forecast is for them, say the next three to five years? Will things get better? Will: What I would say – and this is not entirely directly answering your question, but indirectly does – when you're in business, you need to focus on things that you can control. You can control who you employ, you can control the culture of your organisation, how you present yourselves and what you do to inspire your team. What you can't control is FX (foreign exchange), what you can't control is Brexit. So, what you need to do is put in place strategies to mitigate the things that you can't control to allow you to get back to focusing on the things you can control. What happened with Brexit was, it started four years ago, we took a decision four years ago, to plan for the worst-case scenario. It took us about three months, the worst-case scenario hasn't then changed in three-and-three-quarter years, it's still the worst-case scenario. So, for the last three-and-three-quarter years, we've focused on growing our business innovating, distribution, communication – and we've doubled the size of our business. But what I saw over Brexit was many businesses got so caught up in worrying about something that they couldn't control, that they didn't do anything, they stagnated. They were worrying about the latest rumours – ‘I've heard it's that but maybe it's this or it could be this’. And I think in business, you need to not get distracted by things you can't control, focus on your core, focus on your added value, and manage the things you can't control by putting in place strategies to minimise the risk. Small business owners are so accustomed to planning ahead but without a lot of concrete information that's been difficult to do. Will: I'm not sure I agree. With a small business, you're more flexible than a bigger business, you're much more nimble. You have a tremendous advantage against some of the bigger players because you can adjust and you're smaller. I think it's not straightforward. It is possible to be able to try and mitigate those risks. And there aren't that many of them. Clearly Brexit is one, FX is another, trade tariffs is a third, but there aren't that many. And there's some good advice out there to support you. I know that Brompton has been open about being against planned obsolescence. This is where a company will manufacture a product so that it is unusable after a couple of years [or a certain period time], which is long enough where somebody can develop a connection with the product, but not so short that they get disengaged from the company and never buy from them again, there's regular income for that company. Phones are especially notorious for this practice. My question to you is that if a customer is only going to buy one Brompton bike for life, how do you maintain brand loyalty from customers? Will: The way you can maintain brand loyalty from customers is to give them a product that they may need to buy once in their life. Capitalism has done some amazing things – brought people out of poverty, it’s brought health, it’s brought education, but it has come at a cost to our planet. And certainly, in the last 50 years, increasingly. So, we have to rethink how we engage with consumerism and how we buy things and how we reuse things and don't just buy and chuck away and just, we're sucking value out of our planet, which our planet can't sustain. Apart from the fact that the customer must prefer the product they've had for a long time. If you've got some pots and pans that came from your granny or your parents or an old jacket or anything that's had longevity, you cherish it because it's given so much to and if you can keep it working for as long as possible, that makes total sense to me. Coming back to brand loyalty, there are things we can do to engage with our customers where they're having fun. We do races all round the world, not the last 12 months, but we do activities, we do events. And we want people to have fun, and this year with a fair wind we’ll make 70,000 bikes. I mean, they're like eight and a half billion people in the world of which nearly over 50 per cent live in cities. I mean, we haven't even started, the opportunities are immense. We want to create things, then actually what we want to do is when it's finished, which we're not out yet, we should be able to take the product back, recycle it and start all over again and have a full circular economy. Anna: Is that something that you're planning to do in future? Wil: Definitely. We need we need to do that, because there will come a point where the bikes that we were making 20 years ago, in some cases 15 years ago, have come to the end of their life, at which point for those bikes, we should be able to bring them back, take them apart for recycling, then round we go again. I've read that your marketing budget isn't huge, either. Will: I think the experience that a customer has with your product, too often, businesses are obsessed with selling you something. But that's not how you build a brand. A brand isn't what you feel when you bought it, you can buy anything. And the moment you buy and you have this sort of rush of, ‘Whoopee isn't this fantastic?’ The question is, go back to that same customer in two years’ time and say, you know that £100 you spent or that £300 you spent, was it worth it? And, sadly, in most cases against you might have never been used, or yeah, it was brilliant for about six months, and then it bust or something went wrong. There aren’t many things that that we absolutely cherish and love. I think the scope for us to be delivering a useful product, it's not just about buying, it's about looking after the customer for the life of the product. Things need looking after, which is why we have put in a lot of energy. If you like, our marketing budget goes into looking after the customers we already have – that's the most effective marketing budget. If the customers that you have really love their product, and when things go wrong, which they do, we look after them as best we can, then that's the best marketing you can get. So, spend your money on warranty or on customer service, customer support. And then when that's all perfect, you might have a little bit left over for doing some proactive marketing. But often people they forget about are the customer, they just want to go out and do this trend or get more new customers, forgetting about the ones they’ve already got. To round off, I'd like to talk a little bit about manufacturing in the UK. For a long time now it's dwindled, but then others have said, ‘Well, the UK is so innovative and it's still a very strong player in the manufacturing industry.’ In your view, where do you see it going in the next few years? Will: I think there is so much potential to manufacture in the UK, simply because the barriers to entry to doing efficient lean manufacturing are so much lower than they used to be. When I was at university, which is increasingly becoming quite a long time ago – Anna: Oh, I know the feeling! Will: Yeah! If you wanted to design something like a car, you needed a computer that filled up a room and they cost, in today's money, millions of pounds. So, the only companies that could afford the technology to allow you to design effectively were the Fords or the massive companies in the world. But you can buy a computer and start doing 3D design, you can get things printed in 3D in metal. If anything, manufacture’s become entrepreneurial again, because if you come up with an idea, if you can design it, you can print it, you can prove it, you can go on to social media, and then you can raise the money to get started. There's so much potential. The real sense of pride comes from, the reason that it's so satisfying with manufacture, is you see you’re creating something. It's that sense of creation, it's like growing plants – you're seeing something happen and come alive in front of you. You're creating something tangible – that's really, really satisfying. We've been encouraged and told that everything is on a computer and it's all noughts and ones. Actually, it’s the innate sense of pride about something tangible that's going out the door. I think actually the opportunities for it, not just in the UK but globally for manufacturing. Manufacturing doesn't need to be where there's cheap labour. Manufacturing is where there are the best ideas and robotics, semi automation, 3D printing, the cost of software and the ability to design, meaning the best ideas can sprout anywhere in the world, and you can manufacture locally, where the brains are. Anna: It would be a bit like, since the rise of social media and blogging, we've seen content creation go more into the individual’s hands, you feel like manufacturing can go from larger companies to individuals. Will: Definitely. It's a really positive thing because of disruption. I mean, if you look at things about flying taxis, people coming up, there are like 50,60,100 different companies around the world, all coming up with their different flying taxis. It was unthinkable 25 years ago, because it just wasn't possible for small businesses or small groups of individuals to try and come up with something so revolutionary, it would only be a LES four-digit or Nissan, or something – forget it. Yet, all these start-ups are doing it, because the whole engineering and manufacturing has been broken down and it makes it much more accessible. And if your idea is strong enough, if your passion burns bright enough, you can do it. Anna: Well, on that rather inspirational note, I'll leave it there. Thank you ever so much for coming on the podcast, Will. Will: Anna, it's my pleasure. Thank you for asking me. You can find out more about Brompton Bikes at brompton.com. You can also visit smallbusiness.co.uk for articles on business succession and international trade. Remember to like us on Facebook at SmallBusinessExperts and follow us on Twitter @smallbusinessuk, all lowercase. Until next time, thank you for listening.    

Monocle's editor in chief, Tyler Brûlé, joins Will Butler-Adams, the CEO of foldable-bicycle company Brompton. They discuss how the company handled an unprecedented rise in demand, the future of the bike industry, urban change and why weight will always be Brompton's obsession. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the final episode of this SME:SOS series Holly speaks to Will Butler Adams, CEO of Brompton and Richard Callender, presenter and fitness expert.  Both guests share the most incredible lessons and insights - not only from a business perspective, but fundamental life lessons too. From mindset and accountability, to leadership and risk taking - this episode culminates with Holly sharing some of her own insights from this period of time.   SME: SOS is a topical podcast to support small businesses through this turbulent time. Offering advice from experts and founders, this episode is designed to empower and support you through practical tips, advice and real life experiences.   This SME: SOS podcast episode is brought to you with thanks to Dell Technologies. Follow Holly and #SMESOS on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollytucker/?hl=en

Will Butler-Adams is the CEO of the folding two-wheeled wonder Brompton Bicycle. Since jumping into the saddle as the company’s managing director in 2008, Will has flown the flag for British ingenuity and turned ‘Brompton’ into a byword for creativity and innovation – taking the company from bicycle business to cycling sensation with over £25 million in turnover and more than 200 staff.

In conversation with Will Butler-Adams, Managing Director of Brompton Bicycles talking about purpose and Brompton’s main goal of making cities better places. We also discussed leadership styles, and in particular Will’s own style of leadership - throwing hand grenades in and making sure no-one gets too comfortable. Visit the website: thezebraproject.co

In conversation with Will Butler-Adams, Managing Director of Brompton Bicycles talking about purpose and Brompton’s main goal of making cities better places. We also discussed leadership styles, and in particular Will’s own style of leadership - throwing hand grenades in and making sure no-one gets too comfortable. Visit the website: thezebraproject.co

Chief Business Guy on a Bike, Will Butler-Adams, shares how he and his unconventional team used digital tools to take Brompton from a solo inventor's passion project to #1 globally beloved folding city bike.

This is a special edition of OFF BIKE, in the words of David:What is Wheels For Heroes? I’ll try and explain from my perspective… Bicycles have always represented fun to me. When I was a kid they gave me the freedom I needed. As I got older that freedom led to adventure, and as I got stronger the bicycle introduced me to speed, eventually it led me to racing. I’ve spent the majority of my life racing. I stopped in 2014. In 2015 I went to a big lunch in London and I met Will Butler-Adams, the CEO of Brompton, he asked me, “You’re the Tour de France racer, right?” He told me he worked at Brompton, and I said, “You’re the folding bike guys, right?” He had an idea: there were all these MAMILS out there whom looked down upon Brompton, because it was… well, it’s wasn’t a road bike, and it folded. I was one of those people - it wasn’t until Will convinced me to borrow a Brompton for a few days that I got it. It was the first bicycle that was more than fun, it served a purpose, it’s designed to be utilitarian, to improve your life, to make things simpler, to make things better. So back to Wheels For Heroes. Brompton wants to help our key workers, the people whom have such an important purpose right now, they’re going to supply bikes to help them get to their jobs, and they’re going to make a loss doing it, this isn’t a marketing exercise because I know Brompton so well, they’re an engineering company first, and if they do something it’s to solve a problem. Please donate, or at least consider how you can help our key workers."SUPPORT HERE

SME: SOS is a topical podcast to support small businesses through this turbulent time of Covid-19. Offering advice from experts and founders, as well as covering the key announcements and developments that have affected small businesses from the past week.   In this episode, Holly discusses her view on the government backed loan scheme and the power of a united team. She also welcomes Will Butler-Adams, CEO of Brompton Bikes, and Steph Douglas, founder of Don’t Buy Her Flowers to discuss how they are navigating this unprecedented time with their own businesses. They also discuss marketing in this climate, the role of trust with your staff, as well as what they see for the future of small businesses beyond Covid-19.  This SME: SOS Special episode of Conversations of Inspiration is brought to you with thanks to NatWest, Dell, Three and Royal Mail.  Follow Holly and #SMESOS on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollytucker/?hl=en 

En este episodio regresamos haciendo una actualización de nuestras quejas, aunque Anny no puede acompañarnos, Guido te cuenta:. *Como están las cosas en Venezuela por estos días, esas noticias que ya no publican las actualiza para todos. *También nos habla de su contacto con el CEO Will Butler Adams de la empresa Brompton Bikes. *Recomendaciones de vídeos en YouTube. Síguenos en Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. @guidocamargo @purastochadas correo Gmail guidocamargo@gmail.com y purastochadas@gmail.com y en nuestro canal de Youtube www.youtube.com/guidocamargo

Our guest on today's show is Will Butler-Adams, the CEO of Brompton Bicycle. We recorded this one at Brompton's factory in West London, and it's a fascinating episode that tells the story of one of Britain's most singular brands and the man behind its quiet revolution. In it, we spoke about Will's two trips to the amazon (one of which very nearly killed him); his visions for a truly bike friendly London; and why it's what we do in the five-to-nine really defines us. Enjoy.   

This jam-packed edition of the podcast is all about advocating for the industrial case for cycling, in a bid to convince the government that more investment is needed in the cycling sector. We were invited along to a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group (APPCG) in the Houses of Parliament to hear how the APPCG and Bicycle Association are working with government to raise the case for more cycling investment. We spoke to APPCG Co-Chair and MP, Ruth Bradbury, about her view on how government and industry can work together to affect change. We also caught up with Brompton’s Will Butler-Adams who was speaking in the meeting, and listened to his views on the topic. A few miles east saw TfL’s Best Cargo Bike competition get underway in the Queen Elizabeth Park, where we managed to pick Walking & Cycling Commissioner Will Norman’s brain about building a case for cycling that government will listen to. And finally, across the park at Plexel for OVO Energy’s cycling participation initiative launch, we caught up with British Cycling Policy Adviser and former Olympian, Chris Boardman MBE, about his views on what more can be done to advocate for cycling, and by whom.

Will Butler-Adams is a CEO with a refreshingly down to earth, humorous and purpose driven attitude to building a business. In his 17 years leading the company, Brompton Bikes has grown 15% year on year, but despite its growth, Brompton has fiercely retained its company culture. After taking an unexpected spin around Brompton HQ, Holly & Will sat down to discuss how to build a company with purpose beyond the product, how to lead a team and what defines a great leader. Conversations of Inspiration is brought to you with support from NatWest: visit natwestbusinesshub.com for information, tips and insights to help business owners meet their goals.   Follow Holly on Instagram: instagram.com/hollytucker/?hl=en

Will Butler-Adams is the Managing Director of Brompton Bikes, the global folding-bicycle company. A former Plant Manager for chemical company DuPont, Will has grown Brompton’s turnover from to £36 million and the number of employees to over 280 since joining the company in 2002. In this in-depth interview, Will explains why he believes product design is superior to advertising, details the benefits of tension in leadership teams and argues that people around the world need to get back to experiencing the cities in which they live and work.

Will Butler-Adams, the boss of Brompton Bicycles, joins us to talk working with entrepreneurs, creating an iconic brand - and the blood, sweat and tears that went into the creation of the company's new foldable ebike. If you like this week's episode, please subscribe and give us a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps other people find the podcast. With thanks to Huckletree and White City Place.

In this episode we talk to Will Butler-Adams the CEO of Brompton Bikes. We caught up with him at the Global Opportunities Summit organised by UKTI West Midlands and held at the Lloyds Bank sponsored Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry. You will hear in this interview how enthusiastic Will is about export and how passionate he is to encourage more UK businesses to get out there and make a success of international trade. You will definitely enjoy and get a lot of value out of this episode. Visit http://ukexportadvice.co.uk/ for more information

The view from the top of business. Presented by Evan Davis, The Bottom Line cuts through confusion, statistics and spin to present a clearer view of the business world, through discussion with people running leading and emerging companies. Evan and his guests swap thoughts on contacts and contracts. Is it who you know that counts in business? Are informal networks the way business is allocated? Or do more formal arrangements now apply? Evan also asks his guests to reveal their greatest business regrets. Evan is joined in the studio by Will Butler-Adams, managing director of folding bicycle manufacturer Brompton Bicycle; Charles Cohen, chief executive of mobile gambling company Probability plc; Ralph Oppenheimer, chairman of steel trading company Stemcor. Producer: Ben Crighton.