Pontypool-based Frog Bikes, a market leading manufacturer of lightweight, affordable kids’ bikes, has developed an extensive international portfolio since the business was formed eight years ago, with its products being sold in over 50 countries across four continents, including the USA and Hong Kong.
The firm has made a global name for its high quality products, which are designed and built at its factory to meet the specific needs and anatomy of children.
UK based clients include the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, whose son Prince Louis was seen riding one of its balance bikes in images released for the royal’s third birthday.
Immediate export potential
Established in 2013 by husband and wife duo Jerry and Shelley Lawson after they struggled to find suitable bikes for their children, Frog Bikes originally planned to focus solely on trade within the UK, but immediate overseas interest saw the company start exporting in April of that year.
Since then, the company has operated with an international agenda and exports now account for 55% of its business and more than half of turnover.
The company currently has around 1,800 retailers worldwide, including in America, Canada, Australia, China, New Zealand and a number of European nations.
New countries, new contracts
Most recently, Frog Bikes has secured contracts in Slovakia and Greenland, and it is currently looking for new markets. It is also looking to expand its presence in the USA, the world’s largest children’s bike market, where more than three million kids’ bikes are sold a year.
Key to Frog Bikes’ export growth and success has been its strategy to recruit sales representatives on the ground in target countries to identify local stores, organise sales and implement marketing in local languages. Frog Bikes also provides bikes to local councils, schools and bike trainers.
Continuous growth and expansion
In 2016, to facilitate increased growth, with the support of the Welsh Government, Frog Bikes moved to its current home, a 120,000 sq ft factory in Pontypool, to enable it to increase its production capacity and subsequently increase its exports.
And international demand for its products continues to skyrocket, with pipeline sales for the next year more than double current figures.
It is now looking to recruit additional staff across the business, including 15 factory workers and five to ten international reps, to enable it to ramp up production to keep up with this increased demand.
Jerry Lawson, Director and Co-Founder at Frog Bikes, said: “Exporting is a fundamental part of our business and has played a key role in our growth over the last few years. The global market for children’s bikes is huge and offers plenty of opportunities for us, which is why we are looking to place even more of a drive on the international side of our business going forward.
“Since setting up our manufacturing headquarters in Wales five years ago, we have received a range of support from the Welsh Government through Business Wales, including financial aid to ensure our presence at major international trade shows, grants to recruit more staff, and help identifying potential contacts in new territories, which is really important for us.”