The Raleigh Bicycle Company is a British bicycle brand based in Nottingham, England, and founded by Woodhead and Angois in 1885. Using Raleigh as their brand name, it is one of the oldest bicycle companies in the world. After being acquired by Frank Bowden in December 1888, it became The Raleigh Cycle Company, which was registered as a limited liability company in January 1889. By 1913, it was the largest bicycle manufacturing company in the world. From 1921 to 1935, Raleigh also produced motorcycles and three-wheel cars, leading to the formation of Reliant Motors.
Raleigh bicycle is now a brand owned by the Dutch bicycle group Accell which it uses in Europe and licences out in other territories including to Canadian Tire in Canada and Suncross in India. Design and manufacturing no longer take place in the UK. In August 2026, Accell began insolvency proceedings.
In 2006, the Raleigh Chopper was named in the list of British design icons in the Great British Design Quest organised by the BBC and the Design Museum.
History
Early years
The history of Raleigh bicycles started in 1885, when Richard Morriss Woodhead from Sherwood Forest, and Paul Eugene Louis Angois, a French citizen, set up a small bicycle workshop in Raleigh Street, Nottingham, England. In the spring of that year, they started advertising in the local press. The Nottinghamshire Guardian of 15 May 1885 printed what was possibly the first Woodhead and Angois classified advertisement.
Nearly two years later, the 11 April 1887 issue of the Nottingham Post contained a display advertisement for the Raleigh 'Safety' model under the new banner 'Woodhead, Angois, and Ellis. Russell Street Cycle Works.' William Ellis had recently joined the partnership and provided much-needed financial investment. Like Woodhead and Angois, Ellis's background was in the lace industry. He was a lace gasser, a service provider involved in the bleaching and treating of lace, with premises in nearby Clare Street and Glasshouse Street. Thanks to Ellis, the bicycle works had now expanded round the corner from Raleigh Street into former lace works on the adjoining road, Russell Street. By 1888, the company was making about three cycles a week and employed around half a dozen men.Bowden F, 'To the Public', The Book of the Raleigh, Raleigh, Nottingham, 1903, p.8 It was one of 15 bicycle manufacturers based in Nottingham at that time.Harrison A E, 'The Competitiveness of the British Cycle Industry, 1890–1914', The Economic History Review, News Series, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Aug 1969), p.289
Frank Bowden, a recent convert to cycling who on medical advice had toured extensively on a tricycle, first saw a Raleigh bicycle in a shop window in Queen Victoria Street, London, about the time that William Ellis's investment in the cycle workshop was beginning to take effect.'Rutulan', Souvenir of the Raleigh Works, Raleigh, 1922, p.4 Bowden described how this led to him visiting the Raleigh works:
It is clear from Frank Bowden's own account that, although he bought a Raleigh 'Safety' in 1887, he did not visit the Raleigh workshop until autumn 1888. That visit led to Bowden replacing Ellis as the partnership's principal investor, though Bowden did not become the outright owner of the firm. He concluded that the company had a profitable future if it promoted its innovative features, increased its output, cut its overhead costs and tailored its products to the individual tastes and preferences of its customers. He bought out William Ellis's share in the firm and was allotted 5,000 £1 shares, while Woodhead and Angois between them held another 5,000 shares.Lloyd-Jones R & Lewis MJ with Eason M, Raleigh and The British Bicycle Industry, Ashgate, Aldershot, 2000, pp.47–49
In Frank Bowden's own lifetime, Raleigh publicity material stated that the firm was founded in 1888,Hadland T. (2011) Raleigh: Past and Presence of an Iconic Bicycle Brand, San Francisco: Cycle Publishing, fig.8.3 which was when Bowden, as he himself confirmed, first bought into the enterprise. Thus, Raleigh's 30th anniversary was celebrated in 1918.Hadland T. (2011) Raleigh: Past and Presence of an Iconic Bicycle Brand, San Francisco: Cycle Publishing, p.52 The 1888 foundation date is confirmed by Bowden's great-grandson, Gregory Houston Bowden, who states that Frank Bowden "began to negotiate with Woodhead and Angois and in December 1888 founded 'The Raleigh Cycle Company'."Bowden GH, The Story of the Raleigh Cycle, Allen, London, 1975, p.16 The December 1888 foundation date is also confirmed by Nottinghamshire Archives.Dorrington M et al, Turning Back the Pages of Raleigh Cycles of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire County Council, 2007, p.2 In recent years, the Raleigh company has cited 1887 as a foundation date but, whilst this pre-dates Bowden's involvement, the Raleigh brand name was created by Woodhead and Angois and the enterprise can, as demonstrated above, be traced back to 1885.
The company established by Bowden in December 1888 was still privately owned with unlimited public liability. In January 1889, it became the first of a series of limited liability companies with Raleigh in its name. It had a nominal capital of £20,000, half of which was provided by Frank Bowden. Paul Angois was appointed director responsible for product design, Richard Woodhead was made director responsible for factory management, and Frank Bowden became chairman and managing director. Some shares were made available to small investors and local businessmen, but take-up was minimal, and Bowden ended up buying most of the public shares. He subsequently supplied virtually all the capital needed to expand the firm.Lloyd-Jones R & Lewis MJ with Eason M, Raleigh and The British Bicycle Industry, Ashgate, Aldershot, 2000, pp.49–50
When Frank Bowden got involved with the enterprise, the works comprised three small workshops and a greenhouse. As Woodhead, Angois and Ellis, the firm had expanded round the corner from Raleigh Street into Russell Street, where also stood Clarke's five-storey former lace factory. To enable further expansion of the business, Bowden financed the renting of this property and installation of new machinery.Lloyd-Jones R & Lewis MJ with Eason M, Raleigh and The British Bicycle Industry, Ashgate, Aldershot, 2000, p.50
Under Bowden's guidance, Raleigh expanded rapidly. By 1891, the company occupied not only Clarke's factory but also Woodroffe's Factory and Russell Street Mills.Raleigh catalogue, 1892, p.1 In November 1892, Raleigh signed a tenancy agreement for rooms in Butler's factory on the other side of Russell Street.Nottinghamshire Archives DD/RN/1/1/1 Shortly after this, the company also occupied Forest Road Mill.Raleigh catalogue, 1893, p.3 (Forest Road junctions with Russell Street at the opposite end from Raleigh Street.)
Bowden created a business which, by 1913, was the biggest bicycle manufacturing company in the world, occupying seven and a half acres in purpose-built premises completed in 1897 at Faraday Road, Lenton, Nottingham."£5.2 million University of Nottingham deal will build on business heritage". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 4 May 2016 It subsequently became very much bigger. Many say that Bowden invented the Bowden cable but there is no evidence to support this myth.
Sir Frank Bowden died in 1921 and his son Sir Harold Bowden, 2nd Baronet took over as chairman and chief executive, guiding the company through the next 17 years of expansion.
In 1931 their new headquarters in the Howitt Building on Lenton Boulevard was complete. This building was designed by Thomas Cecil Howitt and won a RIBA Bronze Medal. In 2018 the building was Grade II listed.Historic England listing
Humber Cycles There was a resurgence in domestic and export demand for pedal bicycles and by February 1932 Raleigh had acquired all the Humber Limited trade marks. Manufacture was transferred to Raleigh's Nottingham works.Roger Lloyd-Jones, Myrddin John Lewis, Mark Eason, Raleigh and the British Bicycle Industry: An Economic and Business History, 1870-1960, Ashgate Publishing, 2000. Raleigh-made Humbers differed from Raleighs only in chainwheels, fork crowns and some brakework.
During World War II, the Raleigh factory in Nottingham was used for the production of fuzes. Bicycle production was reduced to approximately 5% of its peacetime capacity.
In 1939, Raleigh opened a bicycle factory at 6 Hanover Quay, Dublin, Ireland and commenced bicycle production there. The Raleigh (Ireland) business expanded and moved to 8–11 Hanover Quay, Dublin in 1943. The plant produced complete bicycles and Sturmey-Archer hubs, and remained in production until 1976, when the factory burned down. Models produced there latterly were the Chopper and Triumph 20. The head badges changed in the late 1960s, possibly after the passing of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 in the UK. Dublin-made machines no longer had "Nottingham England" on the Heron or Triumph head badge, the panel being left blank instead.
Motor vehicles In 1899, Raleigh started to build motorcycles and in 1903, introduced the Raleighette, a belt-driven three-wheel motorcycle with the driver in the back and a wicker seat for the passenger between the two front wheels. Financial losses meant production lasted only until 1908.
In 1930, the company acquired the rights to the Ivy Karryall, a motor tricycle fitted with a cabin for cargo and a hood for the driver. Raleigh's version was called the Light Delivery Van and had a chain drive. A two-passenger version was followed by Raleigh's first three-wheel car, the Safety Seven. It was a four-seat convertible with shaft drive and a maximum speed of . A saloon version was planned, but Raleigh shut its motor department to concentrate on bicycles again. Chief designer T. L. Williams took the equipment and remaining parts and moved to Tamworth, where his company produced three-wheelers for 65 years. The leftover parts from Raleigh carried an "R", so Williams chose a matching name: Reliant.
Raleigh also made mopeds in the late 1950s and 1960s as the bicycle market declined. The most popular of which was the RM6 Runabout. This model featured unsprung front forks and a cycle type calliper front brake which made it a very affordable mode of transport. Because of its success, production continued until February 1971; 17 months after Raleigh had stopped manufacturing all other mopeds.
With the surge in scooter ownership in the UK, Raleigh built a small Italian scooter, the Bianchi Orsetto 80, under licence, sold as the Raleigh Roma, with production continuing until 1964.
Post-war U.S. export market After World War II, Raleigh became known for its lightweight sports roadster bicycles, often using Sturmey-Archer three- and five-speed transmissions. These cycles were considerably lighter and quicker than either the old heavy English utility roadster or the American "balloon-tire" cruiser bikes. In 1946, Raleigh and other English bicycle manufacturers accounted for 95% of the bicycles imported into the United States.Petty, Ross D., Pedaling Schwinn Bicycles: Marketing Lessons from the Leading Post-World War II U.S. Bicycle Brand, Babson College, MA (2007), pp. 5–6 Article
Raleigh's sports roadster, or British racer bicycles were exported around the world, including the United States. The company continued to increase imports to the United States until 1955, when a rate increase in foreign bicycle tariffs caused a shift in imports in favour of bicycles from West Germany and the Netherlands. However, this proved only a temporary setback, and by 1964, Raleigh was again a major selling brand in the US bicycle market.Petty, Ross D., Pedaling Schwinn Bicycles, pp. 5–6
Raleigh RSW In 1965, Raleigh introduced the RSW 16, its long-awaited competitor to the hugely successful Moulton Bicycle. The new Raleigh shared several important features with the Moulton, including small wheels, an open frame and built-in luggage carrying capacity.