A FIRM in the heart of the Ribble Valley is racing ahead of the field.

Onix Bikes, set up by entrepreneur Craig Middleton, is due to release a new range of carbon fibre bikes in June.

The Waddington-based company, named after a gemstone but spelt differently, is one of the up and coming UK bike brands thanks to Craig's passion, product testing and recruiting top people.

These include three-time Olympic medalist and former double world cycling champion, Rob Hayles, who was known as ‘Killer' on the track.

Hayles linked up with Onix as chief development and test rider after a being asked to test the 2012 range of machines by Craig, who was introduced to him through a mutual friend.

Craig, 42, said: “Thanks to Rob, who advises us with production, we know that we are using the best materials around to ensure that the new products we create are of top quality.”

Craig became a keen cyclist in 2003 after being influenced by the Tour de France.

He gave up a long career in printing in December 2009 and decided to create something different.

He said: “I had spent 22 years in the printing industry and I hated it from day one, so I wanted to change the direction of my life.

“This made me decide to start a business in a completely different industry which was a huge risk considering that I had two kids and a massive mortgage.

“The first 18 months were tough because we nearly lost everything due to the financial climate. Another problem I had was that nobody wanted to take me seriously about starting up a business in the cycling industry, so I struggled to make contacts.

“However, after I had spent time working with Eurosport commentator David Harmon, we managed to create a link with Rob and this helped us get a great reputation to help us to begin to move forward positively.”