BikeStow is a designer and manufacturer of plywood bike racks for cycling enthusiasts. Their aim is to revolutionise how cyclists store and transport their bikes.
George started the business with his family before beginning his studies at Loughborough. He said, “In the early days, the business was more of a hobby and side-hustle, doing it for the experience and the enjoyment it brought.” He then came to Loughborough to study Product Design Engineering with a placement year.
The University offers a Year in Enterprise for placement. It suited George well. He joined the scheme with around 20 other students who were all focused on starting businesses.
George added: “This was a fantastic opportunity to utilise the skills I had learnt in my first two years of university along with the incredible support the Enterprise team offered to grow the business.
“The scheme created a sense of collaboration and community between the other students which is a rare thing to find in the often lonely business world.
“That year, we doubled our revenue and hired our first two employees.
“Since graduating in 2023, I have focused on this venture full-time and our products are now purchased worldwide.”
The family’s passion for cycling was what sparked the idea, with their initial designs just for their family. The Laights were keen to look after their bikes when transporting them. George took a gap year ahead of his studies to work with his dad, Simon to develop their ideas for how to fold up their designs and in 2018 they took BikeStow to a cycling show, where they began to gain interest in their product.
BikeStow manufactures in-house in Stourbridge, UK.