BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Kent cycle parking specialists Cyclepods have won a £50,000 business growth grant from HSBC.
Claiming to be carbon neutral and manufacturing in the UK from 100 per cent recycled materials, the banks judging panel were impressed by Cyclepod’s potential to stimulate growth.
Stephen Price, HSBC’s UK head of commercial and business banking, said: “We had some fantastic applications for the £200,000 of Business Growth Grant, and the standard of competition among the ten finalists was incredibly high. Cyclepods came about through personal experience of a bicycle theft, and they understand the need to have a range of products for different markets. I wish them a successful future.”
Natalie Connell at Cyclepods said, when told of the companies success: “We are delighted to hear that HSBC have awarded us the £50k Business Growth Grant. The Business Growth Grant is significant because it will provide the investment we require to launch our range of solutions for the domestic cycle parking market; a new market that we have been keen to enter for some time. Two Thirds of bikes are stolen from the home so with the help of HSBC we are confident we can tackle this issue which in turn will encourage more people to cycle."
With international trade being key to future UK growth, HSBC is launching a new multi-billion fund specifically for SMEs that trade with other businesses across the globe. The ‘HSBC International SME Fund’ has pledged to provide at least £4 billion of lending to SMEs with a turnover of up to £25million and will be available in the coming weeks.
