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13 Nov 2024

Award-winning cycling charity, Life Cycle, is excited to announce its new partnership with Cytech, the internationally recognised training and accreditation scheme for bicycle technicians.

8 Nov 2024

Challenging market conditions due to poor weather and broader economic pressures continue to challenge Halfords, despite positive customer response to its new premium range of bicycles.

7 Nov 2024

Accell Group, owner of Raleigh, Lapierre, Babboe, and other bike brands, has announced that its parts and accessories inventory levels are back to normal, with bike inventory expected to follow...

7 Nov 2024

Torq Zone Academy proudly celebrates 10 years as the pioneering institution for bicycle technician trainingRead more…

6 Nov 2024

Glasgow is set to receive a substantial boost for cycling infrastructure and community facilities, with over £500,000 of funding to be provided to two major projects.

6 Nov 2024

ACT members won numerous awards and dominated certain category nominations at last week’s BikeBiz Awards 2024 in Birmingham.

1 Nov 2024

Independent retailers across Britain have reacted with dismay to yesterday's Budget, with many warning of store closures, job losses and cancelled expansion plans.

30 Oct 2024

The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) and the ACT have condemned today's Budget as the most damaging for independent retailers in recent memory, with...

30 Oct 2024

Retailers and hospitality businesses are paying three times their economic share in business rates, according to analysis by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and UK Hospitality.

30 Oct 2024

eBay is tightening regulations on e-bike and e-bike battery sales in the UK from 31 October, in a change aimed at prioritising consumer safety.

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Co-chair of the Walking and Cycling Parliamentary Group says Cycle to Work scheme

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

Fabian Hamilton MP, co-chair of the Walking and Cycling All-Party Parliamentary Group, has said that the Cycle to Work scheme "must be reformed".

Cycle lane

Last week, Mr Hamilton met with ACT representatives and heard the concerns retailers had with the Cycle to Work scheme.

Among these concerns were suggestions that the scheme was overly complicated, inconsistent and out of date. However, the chief concern was the fact that individual bike shops were forced to bear the heavy administrative costs of the scheme, whilst third-party providers made healthy profits.

Now, in a statement published on Global Cycling Network, Mr  Hamilton has stated that he too believes the Cycle to Work scheme needs to be reformed:

"The current schemes must be reformed so that small businesses are able to take part without operating at a loss. The intermediaries, that are often large corporations, are raking in the profits while small cycling manufacturers and shops suffer."

The intermediaries in Cycle to Work schemes are private businesses that facilitate the scheme for employers.

These providers buy bicycles from bike shops on behalf of participants in the scheme, then rent the bikes to the participants. The administrative cost of this transaction is high, and at the moment, it is lumped almost entirely on the individual bike shops.

The scheme might need reform, but Mr Hamilton makes clear that schemes of this kind are a good thing, saying:

"Schemes that promote cycling are vital to public health and tackling the climate emergency."

Indeed, he sees the bicycle industry as a key part of the "new industrial strategy" that the Labour party is campaigning for at the upcoming general election. He concludes by saying:

"Cycling businesses are integral to this [strategy] and we will make it as easy as possible for them to do business in the UK."

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