A virtuous cycle

Thursday February 2, 2017

The 3rd Sept is Cycle to Work Day! But while our streets and the Internet have been battlegrounds for a phony war between cyclists and motorists this summer, we would like to focus on the positive aspects of this hobby/mode of transport.

In each of the past two years, the cycling movement has encouraged tens of thousands of people to participate in cycle to work days, and to clock up over half a million miles. With census data indicating that already over three quarters of a million people do cycle to work, their aim is to get this to more than one million by 2021.

Beyond the publicity and hype that surrounds Cycle to Work Day, there are longer-term schemes that encourage cycling. One of these is the government’s own Cycle to Work initiative that can be offered as an employee benefit. This can see employees get a brand new bike and accompanying safety equipment at a saving of as much as 42%, depending on their tax rate.

It’s actually the UK’s fastest growing employee benefit, so is an inventive way to attract and retain talented staff. And when you dig deeper, there are even more benefits to your business. For instance, it can be incorporated into any policy you have to reduce your carbon footprint – obviously a good way to promote your business and create an image of a responsible company. Looking at your bottom line, there are no costs to implement the scheme and it can even yield you an NI saving of your own. And if you are prone to hearing of parking disputes amongst employees or with neighbouring businesses, or have staff turning up late due to bad traffic; then the more employees you have using pedal power, the less these problems should occur.

For employees, as well as the subsidised bike, they may also save money on commuting costs and incorporate a good dose of exercise into their daily routine.

And it’s good for the environment too. So nearly everyone wins. In fact all that seems left to do is negotiate a truce between cyclists and motorists, but that’s a different blog post – may be one involving the Nobel Peace Prize.

So will you be taking the bike in to work on Cycle To Work Day?  Make sure you tweet a pic to @TheHRDept

The HR Dept has teamed up with employee benefits specialists, Excellect to produce the UK’s first Flex Benefits platform designed specifically for SMEs. It offers you a cost effective way to provide attractive flex benefits including Cycle to Work. For more information or to arrange a demo, contact The HR Dept today.

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