Raleigh Bicycle Company

Raleigh Bicycle Company is a British bicycle brand based in Nottingham, England, and one of the oldest bicycle manufacturers in the world. Its origins trace to a Nottingham workshop founded in 1885 by Woodhead and Angois; after businessman Frank Bowden acquired the operation, it was formally reorganized as the Raleigh Cycle Company in December 1888 and registered as a limited company in January 1889. Through the twentieth century Raleigh grew into one of the largest bicycle manufacturers in the world, and between 1921 and 1935 it also built motorcycles and three-wheeled vehicles, later adding mopeds in the late 1950s and 1960s. The company's headquarters and historic factory were in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. Raleigh has changed ownership several times; the Dutch bicycle group Accell bought the brand in April 2012 for 62 million pounds, and as of August 2026 Accell has entered insolvency proceedings after exhausting other options, leaving the brand's future in question even as its bicycles remain sold worldwide.