Pragmasis to wind down production of bike locks after “finding times hard” amid Brexit, Covid and “cost-of-living crisis combined with Ukraine situation”

Popular bicycle lock manufacturer Pragmasis and SecurityForBikes has announced that it will be ceasing production of its products and closing its retail and despatch business later this year due to “the brutal reality” of “losing money for quite a while” amid challenging times and rising costs and overheads.

Founder and owner Steve Briggs, who began the company in 2003 with his wife, communicated the news today and thanked customers, suppliers and partners for their support over the past 20 years and expressed pride in having “stopped an awful lot of thefts along the way”.

road.cc editor Jack can attest to that, his pair of DIB D-Locks now well-worn with nicks and marks from unsuccessful thieves’ bolt-cutter attempts, one time somewhat comically (although maybe less amusing at the time) leading to them opting for nabbing his bars and seatpost instead.

Briggs stressed that while he expects to be shrinking the business from three factory units to none by “around October this year”, for the time being “we are still here and shipping orders: When it’s gone, it’s gone! (Probably)”

He said: “I’m sad to report that we have been finding times hard for a long time, now. The blunt reality is that we’ve been losing money for quite a while with overheads and costs going up. Not much, but still cash going the wrong way and it all adds to the stress and worry that has taken its toll over the long term. We’ve been retrenching back to a reduced product range and also making other cost savings and have tried lots of sales-boosting strategies over the last two years but they haven’t turned it around.

“We are now actively in the process of shrinking from three factory units down to two, and we expect to be shrinking from two units down to none around October this year.

“I started this company with my wife in 2003, more than 20 years ago. Very sadly, she passed away six years ago and my health has been getting worse. Probably a lot to do with long-term stress, plus I got Covid, again, back in February and that has caused many more problems for me since then.

“My partner Rosie and I also want to spend more time taking care of our Alvecote Wood conservation site, something that has been rather neglected over the last few years due to us struggling with the business. My team and our suppliers have all been brilliant, but the cost-of-living crisis combined with the Ukraine situation on top of Brexit and Covid have all hit us.

“We are having discussions about possible licensing opportunities where another company could take over manufacturing some of our products under licence. Further applications are welcome from established businesses, ideally already active in the security sector.”

He stressed that the company will do its best to take care of customers, suppliers and staff during the coming months and added that while there is currently stock of most of the product range, that “could change quite quickly as we make more public announcements”.

It’s not just bike locks that Pragmasis has manufactured and the company also proudly reports having been “raising the bar with innovative designs” of ground anchors, security chains, motorcycle security products and, of course, the D-locks.

“Now, there are more products from much larger companies to make the life of thieves even harder,” Mr Briggs continued. “Anything that deters thieves is good for all of us. We have stopped an awful lot of thefts along the way — and in fact, we still are. 

“We’ve supplied well over 40,000 customers and that’s a lot of security out there, keeping stuff safe in a variety of countries. We’ve only been a small company but we have helped to change the game during our time. Thank you to everyone: all our customers, suppliers and partners.”

The Dib D-Lock attracted plenty of praise from cyclists for its thief-frustrating qualities. As the story goes, the company’s founder had been thinking of names for the new product when their elderly ginger cat Willoughby passed away, one month short of his 22nd birthday. 

“We often called him ‘Willow’, or sometimes ‘Dibbleby’, or ‘Dib’. We thought it would be nice to remember him by naming the locks after him: the Dibbleby D-Lock, or just the Dib,” the brand’s website explains.

Pragmasis’ protector security chain also impressed us and was included in our buyer’s guide for the six best bike locks back in 2021, while the Shed Shackle security anchor got four-and-a-half stars when reviewed by Dave.