ACT and Cycle to Work Alliance identify areas to work together to drive positive change
Posted on in Cycles News
The Association of Cycle Traders has held productive discussions with the Cycle to Work Alliance around the issue of Cycle to Work reform, following the news that more than 650 independent bike retailers and other industry parties have now signed up to the ACT’s call for systemic reform of the Cycle to Work scheme.
“Together, we have identified common areas of interest,” explains Jonathan Harrison of the Association of Cycle Traders.
“We have committed to working together to drive forward positive change and to reach certain objectives, notably to open the Cycle to Work scheme to more people and to grow the cycle market for all. However, at the same time, we continue to recognise the concerns of our members and we will continue to strive for lower commissions by reaching out to individual providers.”
The ACT recently held seminars on all four days of the recent Madison iceBike events in London and Manchester, during which it outlined what had been achieved so far; lessons that had been learnt and possible ways forward. The event * seminars facilitated face to face conversations around Cycle to Work reform with hundreds of retailers over the four days.
"...at the same time, we continue to recognise the concerns of our members and we will continue to strive for lower commissions by reaching out to individual providers"
In a joint statement, the Cycle to Work Alliance and Association of Cycle Traders said they were united in recognising that the scheme plays an important role in the cycle market which has faced a challenging time following the pandemic, saying that “improving and growing the market to support retailers, scheme providers and prospective cyclists is what collectively drives us and our priorities for reform.”
The organisations said as they look towards the next 25 years of the Cycle to Work Scheme, that they wanted to further to break down barriers to cycle commuting by unlocking the scheme for those on low incomes, National Minimum Wage and the self-employed to ensure equitable access to cycling, and working with government and industry to simplify and minimise administrative barriers, making it easy and attractive for organisations to offer and employees to utilise the scheme.
You can read the joint statement here.