The bicycle company that owns the historic Raleigh brand has started insolvency proceedings after failing to find a buyer.
The Netherlands-based Accell Group said on Wednesday it had called in administrators after it failed to find a viable solution to continue its operations in their current form.
Raleigh was founded in 1887 and grew to be the biggest bike manufacturer in the world. At its height it was making 1m bicycles year at its factory in Nottingham and employed more than 8,000 people.
However, after classic models such as the Chopper, Grifter and Burner children’s bikes in the 1970s and 1980s, Raleigh lost market share and it stopped making bikes in England in 2002.
It was bought in 2012 for $100m (£74m)by Accell, which also owns…