Former Kynast Plant Facilitates Derby Cycles Growth

QUAKENBRÜCK, Germany – Derby Cycle turned the former Kynast bicycle factory into a successful manufacturing plant. On November 1, 2007 Derby Cycle took over the manufacturing plant of Kynast in nearby Quakenbrück.

Last month the 100,000th bicycle produced in Quakenbrück came of the assembly line. After having started the production with only one assembly line at first, two more lines were put into operation in January and October 2008. The fourth one followed in January 2009.

“We are proud of this successful production start and of the fact that we could build up the production without any subsidies,” emphasized Derby Cycle managing director Mathias Seidler at the celebration get together. “With the new factory we could expand our capacity considerably.” Some 800 bicycle are produced daily in Quakenbrück, while the factory is supplied by Derby’s headquarter in Cloppenburg several times a day.

“The factory takeover guarantees the bicycle production in Quakenbrück. We are glad to have a production facility with a trained and experienced staff,” says Seidler “to further expand our international growth”. Derby Cycle claims to be the third-biggest bicycle manufacturer in Europe and markets brands such as Kalkhoff, Focus, Rixe, Raleigh, Univega and Diamondback.

Derby Cycle employs some 85 people in Quakenbrück. In the course of the takeover the company had retained 22 workers from the former Kynast Bike GmbH and had firstly trained them in the headquarters in Cloppenburg. Overall the Derby Cycle group employs almost 600 workers. The company’s 2008 turnover stands at about € 129 million.

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