It's been in gestation for the best part of a year and a half but, finally, the UK now has a Taiwanese bike factory soon to be churning out machines for export to Europe and for internal consumption by Moore Large. The MD for the new operation is Jon Edwards, currently Marketing Director for Moore Large.

The 40,000 sq. ft. facility on Mochre Industrial Estate in Newtown, Powys, is in the same building British Eagle vacated in 1996. This is pure coincidence, says Edwards. The building has been vacant since British Eagle moved.

The A&J factory has had two Taiwanese production lines fitted by Taiwan engineers and will be assembling frames and parts until a new TIG-welding and paint shop is built on an adjoining plot when the Newtown factory will be one of the few bike builders in Britain. The extension will be up by October.

In February, Bicycle Business reported that according to a Moore Large press release, the Derby-based company will double the amount of British built bikes it will be able to sell by being the only UK customer of A&J Enterprise (Taiwan), its main Far Eastern supplier in Taiwan, which is to set up a UK assembly plant. Such a move was not unexpected because dumping duties imposed on bikes of Far Eastern origin make it more economic for overseas companies to assemble in the European Union, bypassing punitive, protectionist duties. Of course, Giant has been successfully operating this model for many years and the news from Moore Large will be the first of many similar stories. At their Derby factory in 1999, Moore Large assembled 50,000 dual suspension bikes.

As well as their own production, Moore Large will be supplied by A&J Europe Bicycle Manufacturing Ltd, a UK registered company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of A&J Enterprise (Taiwan). A&J Europe Bicycle Manufacturing Ltd. will supply Moore Large with their assembled bikes in 2000 and Edwards will be seeking one "Moore Large type company" in most EU countries by 2001.
(Report courtesy of Bicycle Business: www.bikebiz.co.uk)