Gateshead Council teams up with expanding electric bike company

Gateshead Council is the latest institution to partner with Tyneside’s expanding ‘eBike’ firm, Ride Electric.

It is looking to change the way its employees travel around town and to work in the colder months.

The news comes on the back of Ride Electric’s announcement this summer that it is on course for a £1.5m turnover in the next three years, and is set to undergo a large-scale recruitment drive within the next year.

Ride Electric - which supplies electric bikes to the business community from its North Shields base - has said it is calling on all councils in the North East to follow Gateshead Council’s ‘forward-thinking’ approach to sustainable, green employee transport.

The company hopes to expand its service to all local authorities in the region by the end of 2019.

Speaking on the launch of its eBike initiative with the council, Ride Electric’s general manager, Craig Goff-Cooper, said: “eBikes provide a whole new mode of transportation and we’re delighted that Gateshead Council has embraced the technology we provide.

“Public transport isn’t always reliable and parking is always a major problem for people. Driving short distances to work and to meetings every day can also be extremely uneconomical.

“We want to get people active to and from work and in and around the workplace and we believe our eBikes provide the ultimate solution. We’re confident more councils in the area will follow Gateshead Council’s lead and provide eBikes for their employees.

“Every single person who has tested out our bikes on behalf of the council has come back with a smile on their face. It’s great to see and we’re confident that our new partnership will pave the way for a more active future for their staff members.”

As part of the new partnership, employees of Gateshead Council are now able to reserve eBikes using the council’s internal booking system for free.

“Gateshead is the perfect environment to test the capability of eBikes,” continued Ride Electric’s managing director, David Anderson.

“There are some big hills in this area and it’s been great to see employees tackle them with ease and understand that there are no limits to what they can do regardless of their age or level of fitness.

“We want to change the culture and the mindset of people here in the UK and we’ve been approaching councils directly to let them know that there is another way. We want to show them just what a massive difference eBikes can make to people’s lives.”

John McElroy, Gateshead Council’s cabinet member for environment and transport, concluded: “The electric bikes join our existing pool of pedal bikes and are great use for longer journeys or for when Gateshead’s hills would make it difficult for most people to use a pedal bike.

“We’re keen for more employees to use them to help reduce the number of cars on our roads, improve employee’s fitness and reduce mileage costs.”

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