BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Bath and North East Somerset Council has launched its Cycle to Work scheme for its 6,600 employees.
Launching this Friday (October 30th) the B&NES Council will work with Bath-based Cyclescheme to implement the scheme.
The news follows this morning’s announcement of the Cycle to Work Guarantee, designed to encourage businesses to be more cycle friendly.
Gary Cooper, co-director at Cyclescheme said: “It’s always a positive thing when a local employer embraces the scheme and sees the benefits of working with Cyclescheme. We will continue to work closely with B&NES to ensure they and their thousands of employees receive our on-going support. It’s terrific news for the local bicycle shops, our transport network and getting more people on bicycles impacts positively on the wider community too.”
Co-director at Avon Valley Cyclery Gareth Orley added: “It’s great to have B&NES on board and get more people cycling. I’m very aware that more people are using bikes instead of cycling and getting fitter and happier in the process. And despite being tucked away behind the Station, in the shadow of the new Southgate works, recently we have seen a big increase in the number of commuter bikes we’ve sold.”
A recent survey by Cyclescheme found that the number of employees commuting to work grew threefold from 12 per cent to 33 per cent in 2009, while 25 per cent of the respondents used a Cyclescheme bicycle for a quarter of work trips – compared with seven per cent before.
Cyclescheme works with 130 Councils, 26 Fire and Rescue Authorities and 20 Police Authorities in the UK, with over 8,000 active employers on its database. Cyclescheme partners with over 1,450 cycle retailers in the UK, according to the firm.
