The Accell Group in the Netherlands, which owns a slew of bicycle and fitness brands, said that it would quit producing and assembling bicycles at the Raleigh plant in Canada this year. Accell bought the Raleigh Cycle group last year, partly to expand its business in North America. About 135,000 bicycles will still be assembled this season at Raleigh's plant in Waterloo, Quebec, but Accell said that this was no longer profitable and that it would switch to predominantly Asian suppliers from next year. A few years ago the facility was described as the largest bicycle assembly plant in North America, with a capacity of 320,000 units in 2007. It will continue to operate as a distribution and service center to support Raleigh's sales in Canada. However, the end of the Canadian production plant will entail the loss of about 100 jobs and reorganization costs of about €1.5 million, mostly relating to write-offs and employment termination costs. The Accell Group said that the closure would have a positive impact on its results from 2014.

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