Member Article

Overseas expansion on radar for revitalised BikeTrac

Central or Eastern Europe, even the Middle East… there really is no hiding for any motorcycle fitted with security technology developed and manufactured by Silverstone Park company BikeTrac, which has just raised the industry standard with its latest two products.

BikeTrac’s image has undergone a substantial re-launch after Bill Taylor and Andrew Conrich – its entrepreneurial directors – acquired the name in November 2016.

It has also re-located its ‘nerve centre’ to a new office inside Silverstone Park’s Innovation Centre, which is home to a wide range of specialist automotive companies.

“BikeTrac was part of Road Angel and, at the third attempt, its owner, the Watchstone Group, was prepared to let it go,” recalls Bill.

“Andrew and I had been heavily involved in BikeTrac since it was originally launched in 2009 and wanted to take control of the product and then in a direction we felt it should go.”

These major changes have provided added impetus for a company already recognised as the UK market leader in what it does.

At the MCN London Motorcycle Show in February, it introduced an advanced ground anchor for bikers to use at home, in addition to a ‘world first’ portable chain and lock, which again takes motorcycle security to a whole new level.

All this before we even get on to its main BikeTrac offering – a hidden device that enables police and owners to trace stolen bikes, more than nine times out of ten.

“It’s about the size of a yellow ‘Swanvester’ matchbox, but even the manufacturer owner doesn’t know where it’s fitted on the bike – that’s down to us,” explains Bill.

“In it we use GPS (global positioning system) and RF (radio frequency) technology – very few systems use both. GPS gives police ‘real time’ information and RF helps to pinpoint a bike to within a metre, if it’s been hidden underground.

“There are over 5,000 bikes in the UK fitted with BikeTrac and out of 299 bikes stolen with our device on them, we’ve got a 92% recovery rate. Consider the average recovery rate is about 40% – so we’re more than double that.

“From Holland to Italy, Latvia to Lithuania and even Iraq… we’ve either tracked or recovered bikes.

“At Silverstone, we look after a dealer network, liaise with insurance companies, oversee all marketing and so on. We’re also endorsed by both Ducati and Kawasaki and are in serious talks with two more manufacturers.”

There have been rave reviews all round for BikeTrac’s products, but Bill and Andrew are not resting on their laurels and there are already designs on expanding overseas.

He concludes: “We need to put a support infrastructure in place to spread the brand further, but this month we start moving in Ireland. Let’s get settled and then look to take it to new markets. It’s on our radar.”

For more information on Silverstone Park and the Enterprise Zone, please visit silverstone-park.com.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sarah Ross .