Owner of e-Velo blames 'bad press' for Norwich shop closure

Mark Watkin closed the doors on his e-Velo business in the Royal Arcade just eight months after opening.

He said a Panorama documentary on the hazards of e-bikes contributed to a downturn in trade.

e-Velo shut suddenly this week (Image: Denise Bradley)

Along with closing his Norwich store the business owner has also had to close his Suffolk branch, which had been trading for a decade.

Mark said: "Unfortunately, the last six months have proven difficult for the business.

"The constant bad press regarding the safety of e-bikes - in particular relating to battery fires and illegal imports - has driven demand down to the point where we could no longer operate, despite trading for 10 years.

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"The media didn't differentiate between genuine UK legal e-bikes and the overpowered ones available online, which didn't help."

According to government data across the country there were 93 fires in 2022 and 199 fires in 2023 involving an e-bike or e-bike scooter.

Negative media coverage of e-bikes and scooters has led to a drop in consumer trust, Mark says (Image: e-Velo)

And last month a ground-floor flat in Lowestoft was destroyed in a blaze which started when an electric bike caught fire while it was on charge. Fortunately no one was injured in the incident.

On the downtrend in e-bike sales, Mark added: "Last July, we saw a sharp decline in sales from both our Halesworth showroom and the Norwich shop, which continued into the new year.

"We usually see a big uptake in sales from January to March in anticipation of spring, but instead, we saw a continued decline, which ultimately led to the loss of our Halesworth branch, and then Norwich soon followed.

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The aftermath of the blaze showing the damage to the flat in Surrey Street in Lowestoft and the charred remains of the e-bike following the fire (Image: Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service)

"It's deeply regrettable, as we don't like to let our customers down, but we could no longer support the business with the number of sales we were achieving."

It is currently unknown who will fill the unit left empty by Mark's departure, but when asked if he would ever return to the high street, the businessman said: "I would never say never."

Mark Watson, owner of e-Velo, is not discounting a return to the city's high-street (Image: Denise Bradley)