Cycle firm 'beats credit crunch'

A cycle company says it is beating the credit crunch as more people take to bikes to save money.

Swansea-based Cycle Solutions has reported a 400% rise in business during the first nine months of the year and is taking on more staff.

The company offers bikes under a cycle to work scheme, which allows employers to provide bikes to staff tax-free.

Since January, it has provided cycling equipment to 5,000 employees, up from 1,350 during 2007.

Steve Edgell, managing director of Cycle Solutions, said business was booming because people were trying to save on fuel costs.

"We are certainly bucking the trend, as all we seem to read or hear about is the businesses that are being affected negatively by the difficult economic climate," he added.

The company, which was established in 2005, said it had seen its turnover for the first nine months grow to £2m - up by 400% on the same period last year - with the annual figure expected to rise to £3m over the rest of the year.

It had already increased its workforce from eight employees to fifteen and it will now recruit an additional eight staff in order to cope with demand at its Fforestfach headquarters.

Fitter staff

The cycle to work has been made possible thanks to the government's green transport plan.

The initiative allows employers to offer their staff bicycles and cycling equipment with savings of up to 50% through a flexible benefit scheme.

More than 200 businesses have signed up to the scheme this year alone, including high-profile organisations such as the Football Association, the Royal Opera House, the Eden Project, Formula One Racing and BMW, taking the number of companies participating to over 500.

Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University NHS Trust introduced its cycle solutions scheme in 2007, and now more than 100 of its employees are already signed up to the tax-free bike benefits.

Rhodri Davies, of ABM University NHS Trust, said: "The cycle solutions scheme has proven to be a huge success for us because it has been quick and simple to implement with cost savings for both the employee and employer.

"We benefit from fitter, more punctual, more wide-awake staff and employees benefit not only from better health but also from having extra money in their pocket that they would have been spending on travelling to and from work."

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