Listening to Orange’s new owner describe in detail how the heat treatment process raises the temperature of the freshly welded frame to just below melting point where it becomes flexible and all the stresses are relived was a joy. Orange manufacture their own tooling to ensure the frames don’t warp during this process. He waved his hands around to demonstrate how the near molten frame is dropped in to a vat of polymer to quench it at just the right rate to give the perfect grain structure to the 6000 series aluminium. Every step of the process was second nature to Ash, he’s Orange through and through.

The process of taking the reins from Steve and Lester was a fraught one. Taking 14 months to negotiate and finalise left Ash reflecting, “last year was very difficult year”. Ash actually approached Steve and Lester with the idea but initially they weren’t ready. However, when they came round to the idea it made sense. After putting feelers out to other parties they came back to Ash; “There were offers of more money from bigger organisations, but ethically they had to believe in who was taking it on and what they were going to do with it”.

With such a long and close working relationship they all went into it thinking it would be simple. However, once the lawyers got involved, necessarily things got complicated. Having worked so well together for so long and being such good friends, suddenly they were on different sides of the fence with third parties speaking language that only they themselves understood. “It was so unexpected”. Thankfully the three never fell out and remain as close as ever, “everyone is where they want to be”.

There’s a really strong team at Orange that will make sure it happens, strong and talented individuals headed up by a driven owner. “I’ve been planning where I would like to take Orange for years and years, even before shaking hands on the deal. I’ve sat around the boardroom table, as part of the team in the management meetings for years… The main thing for me is that the currently the company does underperform”.

Ash made comparisons to Hope, a business that was once a similar size in the same region but has grown massively through investing in itself and its staff. “I want to see Orange achieve its potential. It’s not about selling-out, you can still be who you are but on a grander scale. It just requires effort and hard work”. The weight of responsibility to succeed is clear, “I love Orange. There can be no failure; this company can only do good things. Otherwise, before anybody else, I’ve let myself down, because I absolutely love this company”.

Walking around the factory floor it’s clear that Ash is equally at home here. He knows every member of staff by name, what they’re doing and why. He points out machined features on sub components and explains the design rationale behind them. Watching the flat sheets getting bent up in to three dimensional parts was a real treat, they make up the entire frame bar the seat tube and the CNC’d billet bits. The refinement in the sheet metal processes and quality control is as impressive as the workers skill and only matched by the breadth of soft porn on display!

This way of manufacturing means that everything is under Orange’s control. They work in short runs and can respond to market demands and product developments swiftly. They can have a new design idea, start tinkering about with bits of metal and be riding and testing it in days. The amount of product development they undertake is astounding. They keep quality standards high and you can have your new bike in your hands, it whatever colour you chose in just a few short weeks.

They are also dedicated to running demos all around the country to ensure that you get to try their bikes and can find the right one for you. As Ash says, “I wouldn’t want to buy a bike without riding it first”. Reflecting on the state of the industry he’s as open as ever, “The industry has shot itself in the foot many times recently and at a very difficult time. The thing I love about Orange is that we don’t necessarily follow what the rest of the industry is doing. We carry on doing what we know and love, and the most important thing for me when we design and build a bike is it performs well and is enjoyable to ride. And I don’t think that’s always the case for other manufacturers.”