Maybe we’re a little biassed, but we believe the humble bicycle is capable of doing a whole bunch of good in this world. But did you know, there’s a way of using your next bicycle purchase as a way of doing *even more* good? You’ll even save yourself some money into the bargain. Neat, right? The Green Commute Initiative is driving positive change on multiple fronts. We’re on board, and you can be too. Here’s how:

At this point, most people have heard about the Cycle To Work Scheme – designed to encourage people out of their cars and onto two wheels, you can pick up a new bike and riding equipment and pay monthly via a salary sacrifice. This means you save the income tax and national insurance! Your employer saves on the national insurance contributions too.

Traditionally, this has worked as a hire agreement between you and your employer, but this meant a limit of £1000. The Green Commute Initiative have worked around this by becoming FCA-approved, so the hire agreement is with them directly and there is no need for a cap. This has been vital in opening up the option of riding to work for more people. Not just electric bikes, but more importantly trikes and handcycles: all of these tend to be more costly than the average bicycle and have often been inaccessible on the Cycle To Work Scheme. Naturally, this ambitious approach to putting more people on two wheels sits very well with us!

So maybe your workplace already has a Cycle To Work scheme running? That doesn’t mean you can’t take this opportunity: GCI has a system for processing the agreements on a case-by-case basis. If you’re the only person at your place of work who wants to take part, there’s no setup time involved for your employer – they just need to pay GCI for the voucher and your salary sacrifices reimburse them. They can even arrange for the voucher to be paid on a finance scheme, or 30-day terms if the business is public.

Solving a few problems in the Cycle To Work Scheme wasn’t all that attracted us to GCI, though. The Green Commute Initiative is a social enterprise: their profits are reinvested into the business, which means more people on bikes. It’s not simply a case of cashing in on a government scheme: as an associate of the APPCG, The Green Commute Initiative works to encourage people onto bicycles whether it’s through their purchase system or not. Now that’s the kind of organisation we like to be involved with. 

To find out more, chat with us in the shop or head over to their website.