Scottish businesses on global ride to Eurobike 2015

The Scottish pavilion will house businesses showcasing everything from an electric bike, a mountain biking coaching app, bike repair station, designer cycling luggage range, bike lubricants and specialist bike footwear and socks.

Funded by Scottish Development International, the international arm of Scottish Enterprise, and hosted in partnership with Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland (MTBCoS) and Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland (DMBinS), the pavilion will promote Scotland as a world class mountain biking destination and a producer of innovative, high quality mountain bike equipment and accessories.

Companies exhibiting at this year’s Eurobike trade event have had help from MTBCoS and DMBinS at an early stage in their business, from discussing ideas at innovation clinics, leading on to market research, product development including knowledge transfer through academic collaborations and testing and product launches.

Graeme White, International Tourism Head at Scottish Development International, commented: “Mountain biking contributes £119 million to the Scottish economy. We can grow this further by tapping into global opportunities, both to attract bike tourists to Scotland, and by working with Scottish companies to produce products for this global market.

“By attending Eurobike, our companies are being introduced to global buyers and distributors which can help them secure new revenue streams. Last year we helped 13 Scottish companies attend the event and as a result these companies are cumulatively forecasting an additional £5.81 million from international sales."

Eurobike 2014 attracted 1250 exhibitors from 49 countries, 46,300 trade visitors from 111 counries, and additional 21,100 bike fans on the public day and 1852 journalists from 46 countries. One of last year’s participating Scottish companies was Cut Media, the company behind last year’s film, ‘The Ridge’, featuring Danny Macaskill. The film continues to be a huge viral success, racking up over 36 million views on YouTube.

Chris Simpson, Head of Cycle Product Development at Scottoiler–Cycling, one of this year’s participating companies commented: “We’ve been in the motorcycle industry for over 30 years, with previous attempts to diversify our products for the cycle market. We decided to attend one of the innovation clinics from DMBinS and MTBCoS, and we’ve been blown away by the level and quality of support available to us.

“From testing our products with Edinburgh Napier University, working with elite riders and other businesses, market research and focus groups, each stand of support has helped us make our business a success. Eurobike is a key route to market for us, so this year we’re launching a new automatic cycle chain lubricant product. In fact, we’ve entered this product into the coveted Eurobike Innovation Awards so we have our fingers crossed that we win and secure worldwide recognition.”

Danny Cowe, Business Development Executive at MTBCoS, said: “The businesses participating this year are great examples of how our support pathway, from innovation to internationalisation, can help a company grow. We also have an additional ten companies taking part in a learning journey in Germany, with the aim of making them ready to take a space on the Eurobike pavilion next year.

“There’s no doubt, with the notable exception of Endura, Scottish companies historically weren’t taking full advantage of the economic opportunities mountain biking presents. Our free & confidential nationwide support is available to any company operating in the mountain bike sector, and we’re always keen to talk to more companies and entrepreneurs.”

Companies that have an idea or innovation which is for the mountain biking or cycling market, or could be adapted to suit, can come along to the MTBCoS innovation clinics or get in touch at mtb@napier.ac.uk