NORTON MOTORCYCLE’S call to motorcycle fans to help raise funds for the development of its 650cc and V4 models has been halted after a single donor has come forward to stump up the £1m they were asking for.
The Donington based motorcycle builder opened the crowdfunding campaign last week, to help the firm ramp up the production of its V4 superbike and 650cc models. Norton claims that the two model ranges alone have generated an order book of £30m.
Insider Media report that Norton CEO, Stuart Garner, said: "We were overwhelmed with interest from our loyal customers and fans during pre-registration, which has given us so much pride and confidence with what we’re doing here.
"We simply could not have done this without them. We know there has been a lot of excitement in people getting involved with Norton which is why we didn’t take this decision lightly and have decided to pause the campaign.
"We are thrilled that a single investor, who has been a long-time rider and fan of Norton, has approached asking to help deliver our order book out to owners meaning we can accelerate the process earlier than expected.
"We will focus on this stage, as we want to get people riding our bikes, and will be keeping all those that registered up to date on how we’re doing and the next steps of Crowdcube."
They also report that Norton’s latest accounts, from the 12-months leading up to March 2018, Norton recorded a turnover of £6.7m and made a pre-tax profit of £20,721 after making a loss the previous year. The crowdfunding campaign comes just a couple of months after Norton announced a £multi-million engine deal with Chinese manufacturer Zongshen.
