Brompton Bikes is one of those rare brands people feel something for. A certified B Corp, an icon of British engineering, and a pioneer of urban mobility with a simple mission to create urban freedom for happier lives.

As Brompton shifted from a UK-centric operation to a truly global business, now with more than half its sales coming from Asia, one thing became clear. Headquarters alone could not support the pace of that growth. Core functions needed to scale thoughtfully, without losing the culture, quality, and community at the heart of Brompton’s identity.

Sri Lanka became part of that evolution.

From three engineers to a Colombo hub

In 2024, Brompton partnered with Gapstars to build an embedded engineering team in Sri Lanka. What began with three engineers has steadily grown into a 13-strong group contributing to product development, IT transformation, and digital infrastructure.

The model is simple in structure but meaningful in practice: dedicated Brompton team members, integrated into Brompton’s ways of working, supported by a professional environment in Colombo that mirrors the Brompton brand.

With strong foundations in engineering, Brompton began exploring whether the same embedded-team model could extend into its Finance function.

The challenge: scale like an enterprise, move like a scale-up

Global expansion brought familiar finance challenges:

• multi-entity reporting
• evolving ERP and data landscapes
• the need for strong controls without slowing down agility
• increasing collaboration needs across UK, Europe, and Asia
  
  

“We wanted to test the capability for ourselves, how recruitment and talent quality would work,” says Tom Champion, CFO at Brompton.

With experience leading large-scale finance transformations, Tom wasn’t looking for a cost-driven model. He was looking for a structure that could:

• support Brompton’s premium positioning
• strengthen governance and accuracy
• remain flexible as the business evolves
  
  

Why Gapstars: quality first, then location

The engineering team had already demonstrated Gapstars’ strengths:

• consistently high-quality talent
• direct integration into Brompton’s processes and culture
• a setup without any “buffer” layers slowing collaboration
  
  

Extending the model into Finance was explored for three specific reasons:

1. Talent that meets Brompton’s standards: Candidates with credible experience, business maturity, and the communication skills to work with global teams.

2. Time-zone proximity to Asia: With more than half of Brompton’s business now coming from Asia, Sri Lanka’s alignment supports smoother operations.

3. A professional environment that feels like Brompton: A space and culture that reflect Brompton’s identity, something Tom remarked on personally during his visit.

The solution: early-stage Finance capability, built the way Tech succeeded

The first finance role Brompton tested through Gapstars was a Manager – Credit Controller, filled by Treshan Rajasooriar.

With more than seven years at the London Stock Exchange Group, leading a team of 21 and overseeing operations across 16 entities and 5,000+ clients, Treshan brought experience with scale and process rigor.

“My goal is to add value not only through my core responsibilities but also by driving continuous enhancements within the finance function,” he says.

Working within Brompton’s finance team, he has taken ownership of: credit control and collections, month-end routines and early-stage automation and process improvements

The experience reflected the same ingredients that made the engineering partnership effective:

• clear expectations
• cultural alignment
• a structure where Brompton leads and Gapstars supports
  

“From recruitment to onboarding, Gapstars made it easy to hit the ground running.” — Treshan

Partnership in real life

In October 2025, Brompton’s leadership team, including CFO Tom Champion, CTO Oliver Boardman, and Head of Software Kamil Stepien all visited Gapstars in Colombo within days of each other. The visit wasn’t ceremonial. It was working sessions, hands-on discussions, and time spent with the teams who are now part of Brompton’s extended ecosystem.

“Gapstars is not just recruitment. It is a professional environment that mirrors our premium brand.” — Tom Champion

The conversations naturally drifted toward shared values, community, sustainability, and even the idea of bringing Brompton’s iconic culture to Sri Lanka through local rides or speed-folding events. It reinforced the same message you see across Brompton’s global network: when people come together around a shared purpose, identity follows.

Across both Engineering and Finance, the goal has never been to “offshore.” The goal has been to build teams that feel like Brompton, aligned in values, committed to quality, and grounded in community.

Where those teams sit matters far less than how they collaborate, contribute, and help Brompton continue delivering urban freedom for happier lives.