Member Article

e-bikehire works with employers to leave car at home as £30m invested in Yorkshire cycling

Electric cycle company, e-bikehire.com, has signed up to the tax free national initiative bike2work that encourages ‘business bikers’ to leave their cars at home.

The Otley firm’s electric bike business service – believed to be the first of its kind in Yorkshire - comes as the government announces plans to inject £77 million into a Cycle City initiative. Yorkshire is set to receive just under £30 million – the second highest funding in the UK – with a 14 mile cycle highway planned from east Leeds to Bradford city centre.

Under bike2work, businesses buy bikes VAT free for employees in exchange for interest free repayments via salary deduction over a period of 18 months.

e-bikehire co-owner, Lee Robinson, said: “With electric bikes costing just a few pence to travel around 40 miles, they are a green and economical option for commuting to work.”

“E-bikes remove all the normal barriers to ordinary cycling to work, such as tackling hills and arriving at work needing a shower, with the option of reverting to pedal power for the flat. Cycling in Yorkshire is riding high with the Grand Yorkshire Depart in 2014 and news of a multimillion pound investment in the region’s city cycle paths should encourage commuters to ditch their cars and get on their bikes.”

Simon Young, managing partner of Aysgarth Accountants Limited in Leeds, has trialled an electric bike and said: “Electric bikes make the bike2work scheme even more of an attractive initiative for people who aren’t necessarily super fit cyclists. They are perfect for city workers fed up of traffic congestion, high fuel charges and parking costs.”

Harrogate-based Jill Beecroft, a distributor of Nu Skin added: “Electric bikes are great for travelling round to business meetings and enjoying the scenery. Employers can also take advantage of the brilliant bike2work tax free scheme to promote a healthier work/life balance for their staff – a win-win all round.”

Electric bikes can travel at a consistent 15mph for around 40 miles per each battery charge at a cost of between 3p and 7p. Bikes are re-charged by simply plugging into an ordinary power socket.

e-bikehire.com offers test drives on the bikes, which start at £849 and administers the bike2work registration process for companies.

The firm was set up earlier this year by business partners Ian Morton and Lee Robinson. As well as selling electric bikes, it offers self-hire and guided e-bike tours of the Yorkshire Dales – including some of the planned Tour de France route.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by David Gatehouse .