How is Bike Hub money spent?
Posted on in Cycles News
A recent debate between a group of disgruntled Bike Hub contributors and representatives of BAGB (The Bicycle Association of Great Britain Ltd) Carlton Reid (who supports the BAGB on PR) and Steve Garadis (BA Operations Director) has reignited the issue of ‘how is Bike Hub money spent?'
Bike Hub the Cycle Industry Fund was launched in 2003. It is primarily an independent retailer driven fund, with IBD contributions collected via a levy on sales invoices from participating suppliers, which are then match funded by the recipient suppliers.
The resultant supplier funds, which are believed to be in the region of £4.5m to date, plus Government contributions of c.£1m have been paid to BAGB which has been responsible for their expenditure on cycling projects.
The BAGB website suggests that Bike Hub contributors have reduced by c.60% since the 2003 launch, but details are unclear about who actually does/doesn't contribute and how each contributor operates.
The ACT has received increasing numbers of requests for clarity regarding 12 years of expenditure via the Bike Hub Industry Fund and has therefore decided to independently publish the findings of the representatives of Bike Hub contributors, which we are told includes a number retailers and supplier members of the ACT.
There are evidently large gaps in current reporting e.g. the BAGB website states "Bike Hub's iPhone and Android journey planning app cost £15,000 to develop." Whereas the published findings reflect costs to date of c.£96,000!
ACT Director Chris Compton offered further clarity: "I would like to make it very clear that the ACT has no involvement in the Bike Hub fund and hasn't had any involvement or met with the BAGB to discuss Bike Hub this decade.
"The ACT and its members - including some leading suppliers - made some very clear proposals re how Bike Hub could be improved last decade, particularly with regards to much greater transparency and engagement of contributors, which were not accepted by BAGB.
"In fact I was at the last meeting the ACT had with the BAGB re Bike Hub and realised then, due to the makeup of the committee we as ACT representatives were just there for tokenism - which as the retail trade represented c.50% of Bike Hub contributions was not equitable.
"From the early days of our discussions there was conflict regarding transparency of the Fund; this was not restricted to the ACT, some leading suppliers and independent representatives were concerned about this issue too.
"The BAGB website is obviously out of date with regards to its coverage of Bike Hub, but the statement: "In 2010, it was agreed after discussion that the BA Council would resume its original role of direction, and that new investment options would be reviewed annually with the ACT, as funds permitted" is false and therefore misleading.
"It is evident that a not insignificant number of suppliers and retailers have ceased contributing to Bike Hub over the years and the contribution structure has been changed for some larger retail businesses, but the ACT is not privy to these changes or how the funds are being spent or invested by BAGB Ltd.
"The ACT has been working closely with Bicycle Industries of Australia recently and recognise that their Cycling Promotion Fund is a model of how industry funds can and should work, but given the current retail climate and pressure on the independent retail sector in the UK the ACT would question whether it is relevant for independent retailers in the UK to be contributing to an industry fund rather than investing in their own businesses at this time. A truly voluntary fund would allow each and every business to make that choice themselves."
The information provided by the representatives of Bike Hub contributors can be seen by clicking the button below.
The ACT has verified the figures provided as far as possible, we have included all supporting information supplied to us at this time and engaged with financial, legal and HMRC advisors before publication.
If you would like to send over any feedback please email feedback@bikehub.info.
