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Following the sale of Onix Bikes in 2012, founder – Craig Middleton – has announced he is to take on a new challenge and leave the business he started in 2010.
The move will see a new era for the brand too, more on that below.
Middleton commented: "Starting a bike company has been one hell of a journey. Although It’s been my whole life for the past three years I have enjoyed every minute. It has required a tremendous personal investment sacrificing time with my family and limiting opportunities to ride the bikes that I love.
"When selling the business back in 2012, I knew it needed a larger team of people with wider expertise in multiple areas to move the business on and for me to take a breather. I’ve achieved everything I set out to do with the brand and plan to pursue some new opportunities."
A brand new business – Beaconfell – will launch in the summer, offering a wide range of bikes to multiple sectors under the brand name ‘Beacon’, exclusively retailed through a dedicated store called "The Fell".
Middleton will retain a commercial stake in the new venture, the ‘Onix’ brand will be retired in the near future as Beacon launches to market with a new proposition, backed by an expert team.
Middleton added: "The two RH bikes Onix brought to market have received fantastic reviews, which makes me proud. Thanks to all the people that have supported me and I know the new Beacon brand will be something really special. It has my full backing and support."
On the change of brand name, Middleton said: "That was the direction the new owner wanted to go in and there is nothing wrong with that, he is doing what he thinks is best for the brand going forward. The most important thing is that the Onix bike owners out there realise that they are going to be looked after by the Beacon brand. It’s the same team of people with the same rigorous testing programme headed up by Rob Hayles that I put in place but with a much wider range of models due to the investment. I’ve seen the Beacon brand proposition and it is very exciting and as a shareholder im fully behind it."
Middleton told BikeBiz what he is planning next: "Firstly I’m going to take a little bit of time off with the family before deciding on what my next challenge is going to be. I’m still as passionate about cycling today as I was when I founded Onix in 2010 and I certainly welcome any interesting offers at this stage before making any decisions on my future.
"The experience, contacts and skills I have made with Onix will be invaluable to me on what I choose to do in the future. I have a few ideas of my own on some possible exciting future projects that I think have some potential but there nothing more than that at the moment.
"I would like to personally thank everyone who supported me and the brand while I owned Onix Bikes. I do however have to single out David Harmon and Rob Hayles in particular who really helped me push the brand forward, they got involved for the right reasons because they believed in me and the ethos of the project.
"Lastly another big thank you to everyone who invested in an Onix Bike, supported or followed the brand, it was very much appreciated."
Craig Middleton can be reached by email.
