Latest news with #AccellGroup
The Verge
24-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Verge
Raleigh One e-bike launches with VanMoof DNA
The Raleigh One e-bike is now official after The Verge first published details of it last week. It was developed for the Accell Group's Raleigh brand with help from VanMoof's cofounders, Ties and Taco Carlier, according to my sources. The announcement never mentions their involvement, which could be viewed as good or bad — good if you view the brothers as innovators, bad if you got burned during the VanMoof bankruptcy or the turmoil that preceded it. I think everyone can agree, however, that the decision to put several functions behind monthly subscription tiers that start at £6.99 / €7.99 (around $9) per month is annoying, especially for a list price of £2,399 / €2,699 (around $3,000 USD) when Raleigh One sales begin next month in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. That's expensive for a Raleigh, but it's still close to the €2,681 average for European e-bikes. The Raleigh One looks very VanMoof-ish but with several features that fans and critics alike have asked for: the 360Wh battery can be removed for easy charging, and it's fitted with a single-speed belt drive paired to a motor housed in the hub of the rear wheel. If you squint, it could be easily mistaken for a Tenways CGO009. When asked about the Carlier brothers' involvement with the e-bike, Ertu Bilgin, Accell Group brand lead, confirmed that 'some former VanMoof team members have brought their experience' to the Raleigh One, but it's 'very much a product of the Accell Group.' The urban commuter comes with beefy tires to soak up bumps and a few mounts to help haul your gear around the city (with more to come). The integrated lighting adapts to conditions with a 'dual-front' light that can be moved off the frame and onto the optional front rack. There's a simple controller on the bike to adjust power, which can also be set in the Raleigh app. The app lets riders tap into additional features like an integrated alarm system and GPS tracking. The bike weighs 21 kg (46.3 pounds) and is only available in a single step-over frame model. It ships with a 5A brick that can charge the e-bike to 50 percent in one hour or to full in 2 hours and 20 minutes. Range is estimated at 80 km (50 miles) in eco mode or at 50 km (31 miles) when adding more pedal-assisted power. This is Europe so there's no throttle here, and there's no button to provide a temporary boost. Unlike VanMoofs, the Raleigh One uses a lot of off-the-shelf parts. I'm seeing hydraulic disc brakes from Tektro, a Gates Carbon belt, a 250W Mivice motor, and bike mount from SP Connect. 'Built to last and easy to maintain, the Raleigh One delivers on reliability, with high-quality and low maintenance parts, backed up by a comprehensive dealer network,' the announcement promises. Those are important claims given the historical context. VanMoof's downfall under the Carliers' leadership can be directly attributed to bikes that shipped before they were ready, using custom parts of their own design that were assembled without enough emphasis on durability and serviceability. Concerns that VanMoof's new owner — McLaren Applied — has addressed with its new S6 e-bikes. Now, about those subscriptions, or 'memberships' in Raleigh vernacular. The Basic tier provides a rider dashboard, basic security, a stolen mode, and updates over Bluetooth for free. You can then pay £6.99 / €7.99 (around $9 USD) per month, or £84 / €96 ($110) per year, to become a Core member, which adds automatic stolen mode activation and smart maintenance alerts. And for a limited time, you'll also get over-the-air updates, some kind of bike-sharing feature for up to four people, 'touch-and-go' functionality, and remote arming — but only until those features are moved to a new, more expensive 'Icon' tier sometime in 2026. Subscriptions have become an unfortunate norm for just about everything we used to own outright, and e-bikes are no different. VanMoof is developing its own €4.99 (about $6) per month or €49 ($57) per year subscription offering, and even industry heavyweight Bosch can't resist the lure of that recurring revenue stream as the industry continues to grapple with too much inventory and declining demand. Raleigh's parent company, Accell — the bicycle giant responsible for brands like Batavus, Sparta, Carqon, and Babboe — has suffered financial troubles of its own in recent years, including recalls and the bankruptcy of its Stella brand. But unlike VanMoof, Cake, and many other mobility companies that have gone bust since the COVID-19 pandemic boom, Accell had the resources to survive the 'Bikeaggedon' created by a sudden collapse of the supply chain followed by a period of massive oversupply. The Carlier brothers are undeniably trailblazers. They introduced sleek, desirable e-bikes to a category of transportation once dominated by bolt-on batteries and septuagenarians. But can they be trusted, even under Accell's tutelage, after bankrupting the company they founded 16 years ago? Raleigh has also seen better days since its founding in 1887, its brand sullied by an embrace of mass-market retailers that push its lower-end bicycles. That's probably why the Raleigh One is launching on a new website — to set it apart from its siblings and mark a new beginning for everyone involved. Images provided by Raleigh
The Verge
18-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Verge
VanMoof's co-founders have a new e-bike coming from Raleigh
Ties and Taco Carlier, who founded VanMoof as an alternative to Big Bike, are working for Accell Group, the Dutch cycling giant responsible for over a dozen bicycle brands including Batavus, Sparta, Carqon, and Raleigh. According to multiple sources, the first e-bike, developed for the Raleigh brand and pictured above, is nearing completion. The bike's development has been an open secret in my home city of Amsterdam. It's here that the brothers founded VanMoof in 2009, before the heavily-funded startup went bankrupt in 2023. It re-emerged later that year without its co-founders under McLaren Applied's stewardship. Various prototypes of the brand-less e-bike have been spotted in and around the city over the last year — sometimes nearby the home of one of the brothers. The prototypes match images of a Raleigh-branded e-bike that recently leaked. Those images were inadvertently made public (and later removed) by Amsterdam-based Uni_verse Studio, the digital production house that lists VanMoof as a client. The Raleigh commuter e-bike looks very VanMoof-ish, only better: the battery is removable for charging, it's belt driven, and the motor has been moved to the rear wheel. The result is an e-bike that closely resembles the Tenways CGO009. When I reached out to Raleigh for comment, Accell Group Brand Lead Ertu Bilgin said that the e-bike was developed with help from 'some former VanMoof team members,' but it's 'very much a product of the Accell Group.' In 2022, the Accell Group reportedly turned down a financial stake in VanMoof when approached by the rival co-founders, desperate for capital to offset almost €150 million in debt. With this new Raleigh e-bike, it would seem that Accell managed to avoid the sickly cow and still get its milk for free.
Daily Mail
17-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
New B&M boss scoops up £523k of discounted shares ahead of starting the job
The new chief executive of embattled discounter B&M Retail scooped up almost 200,000 shares in the group ahead of his first day on the job. Tjeerd Jegen took on the top job from interim boss Mike Schmidt on Wednesday, having previously help leadership roles with Tesco, Australia's Woolworths, and more recently, Accell Group. He joins at a tough time for B&M, which has seen profits come under pressure from a weak consumer environment and growing competition from other discounters. Regulatory filings published on Tuesday show Jegen bought 197,900 B&M shares in total between 10 and 13 June at roughly £2.61 to £2.70 each, building a stake worth £523,559.60. Retail industry veteran Jegen is considered an effective turnaround specialist. His B&M stake could prove lucrative if he manages to right the ship and improve the group's fortune, with its value having plummeted 55 per cent since the beginning of December 2023. B&M shares were up 1.8 per cent to 260.4p by late morning on Tuesday. Group revenue rose 3.7 per cent to £5.6billion last year, largely thanks to new store openings, but profits fell 13 per cent to £431million. B&M's margins have come under pressure as it has cut prices after its lower income customers have been squeezed by inflation, higher household bills, and lower wage growth compared to higher earnings Britons. The group still hopes to open 45 UK stores this year, with new locations including include Bridgend, Chatham and Cromer, after 45 were opened last year.
Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Ex-Tesco executive Tjeerd Jegen to head B&M European Value Retail
A seasoned retail executive with experience at Tesco has been appointed as the new chief executive of B&M European Value Retail. Tjeerd Jegen, most recently the boss of Accell Group, Europe's largest ebike manufacturer, will take over from interim chief executive Mike Schmidt on June 16. In February the discount retailer announced that Alex Russo would retire as chief executive after three years in the role as it cut full-year profit forecasts to reflect 'the current trading performance of the business, an uncertain economic outlook and the potential impact of exchange rate volatility on the valuation of our stock'. Jegen has held roles at Takko Fashion, a German discount fashion retailer, Hema, a Dutch retailer, and Woolworths in Australia. He was chief executive of Tesco
