Royal favourite Frog Bikes facing administration

Tom Haynes

Tue, February 10, 2026 at 6:00 PM GMT+9 3 min read

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Frog bike

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A children’s bike-maker favoured by Prince Louis is facing an uncertain future after filing an intention to appoint administrators.

Frog Bikes, founded in 2013 by husband-and-wife team Jerry and Shelley Lawson, made a court application through its law firm Shoosmiths on Friday to hire administrators, legal filings show.

Filing an intention to appoint an administrator is a legal step taken by companies to gain temporary protection from creditors. It can lead to a full-blown liquidation of a company or reorganisation of its finances.

Frog Bikes said the move was a “precautionary measure” to allow the company to keep trading while it explores “potential funding and restructuring solutions”.

Mr Lawson blamed the predicament on a “series of significant and well-documented challenges” – including higher employee taxes, Brexit, and low consumer confidence.

He added, “At the same time, tighter financial markets and reduced access to funding made it increasingly difficult for growing manufacturing businesses to secure the requisite working capital required to navigate these challenges.”

‘Continuing friction’ from Brexit

The Wales-based group has gained a cult following and won a dream endorsement when the Princess of Wales published a photo of her son riding one of the company’s products on his third birthday.

The business makes child-specific bikes after the founders said they struggled to find suitable ones for their own children.

Its lightweight aluminium bikes are made in Pontypool, Wales, where Mr and Mrs Lawson opened a 120,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.

After its success in the UK, it quickly became a market leader for affordable children’s bikes and rapidly expanded to more than 50 countries – including the US and Hong Kong.

However, Frog Bikes has recently warned that cumbersome export taxes were eating into profits.

In 2023, it lost £530,000 after blaming “continuing friction” from Brexit, which had made it harder to compete with European rivals.

However, in its most recent accounts for the year to February 2024, auditors said the group would continue as a going concern.

The report added that despite inflation falling at the time, consumers were still cautious in their spending on “big ticket purchases”, adding that there was competition from new entrants to the lightweight children’s bike market.

Bike market in turmoil

Cycling businesses have faced a difficult time as enthusiasm for the activity starts to wane.

A pandemic boom led many companies to expand rapidly, but after the interest faded, firms complained that the sudden drop in interest had left manufacturers with excess inventory.

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Companies like Brompton Bicycles saw profits fall by more than 99pc in the year to March 2024. The following year, it reported pre-tax losses of £2m. At the time, the company described the bike market as being “in turmoil”.

Raleigh, another British brand, reported a loss of £30m in 2023, citing overstocked inventory following the pandemic.

Frog Bikes confirmed in a statement that the search for a new investor would continue.

Mr Lawson said: “All parties are committed to securing a positive outcome for the business, its employees and wider stakeholders.

“Frog Bikes’ priority remains supporting its employees, customers, suppliers, and retail partners while working with its advisers to determine the best possible outcome for all stakeholders.”

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