Tag: e-bikes

NHS Lothian introduces e-bikes to boost sustainability efforts

As part of NHS Lothian’s sustainability programme, they have recently introduced the use of e-Bikes to several services, which will allow nearly 200 staff to access this healthier and more eco-friendly way of getting around.

Last year the Podiatry department in Edinburgh were the first to be part of a trial in NHS Lothian designed to reduce carbon emissions, save money and support staff wellbeing. The eCargo bikes were used as a way of travelling to see and support patients.

Gillian Hawthorne, Team Lead Podiatrist said: “Although this pilot has both financial and environmental benefits, it also has the bonus of supporting our staff’s health and wellbeing by giving them more access to fresh air and exercise while working.

“We hope this project will help to reduce the use of cars for undertaking home visits whilst addressing the ever-increasing traffic congestion in the City of Edinburgh.”

Although the trial started small with just two e-bikes, the health board now has a total of 24 e-bikes over multiple services.

Some of the teams now using the e-bikes include a Rapid Response Team, a Health Visitors team, a Community Mental health team and several others.

We recently spoke to Ciara Feeney, Podiatrist, about her experience using the e-Bikes to visit patients and travel around the city. Watch a short video with Ciara online

Jane Hopton, Sustainability Lead and Programme Director for Facilities in NHS Lothian, said: “This roll out is the next step to our overall sustainability work in Lothian and we hope it will inspire other departments to do the same.

“The more people that make the decision to cycle or walk rather than drive, the more impact this will have on NHS Lothian’s carbon emissions.”

NHS Lothian is committed to sustainability and reducing carbon emissions.

You can find information at https://org.nhslothian.scot/Sustainability

Calling time on cyclists who ride dangerously

The former transport secretary, Grant Shapps, recently proposed a Whitehall review of how cyclists who break the law should be tracked and prosecuted.

Initial ideas put forward to facilitate this include insurance cover for riders and registration plates for bikes, and it appears from the latest research by Venson Automotive Solutions that the UK public are in favour.

62% of those surveyed by Venson agreed that riders of bicycles, e-bikes and e-scooters should have insurance cover and nearly half (49%) believe these modes of transport should carry registration plates.

Cyclists who jump red lights – which is an illegal act for all road users – are creating dangerous situations on the road for themselves and other road users, but unlike motorists, the odds of escaping prosecution are high. However, if caught jumping lights, cyclists will be issued with a standard Fixed Penalty Notice of £30 opposed to a potential maximum fine of £1000 for motorists and points on their licence.

Currently, under the Highway Code and Road Traffic Act speeding limits only apply to motor vehicles and their drivers, exempting cyclists and scooter riders of this vital safeguard.

The survey found that 94% of respondents support the introduction of penalty points and fines for riders of bicycles, e-bikes and e-scooters breaking speed limits and greater penalties for those red light jumping.

One in four also believe that before riders of a bicycle, e-bike and e-scooter take to the road, they should obtain a rider’s licence which includes taking a theory and road test. 

Alison Bell, Operations Director at Venson Automotive Solutions says, “A lot of private motorists and businesses operating fleets are looking for greener transport options for themselves and their employees, including bicycles and e-bikes which can be offered under a salary sacrifice scheme by employers.

“With Government setting a target for half of all short trips to be walked or cycled by 2030 in England, this type of ‘micro-transport’ could provide a viable transport alternative and support that ambition.

“However, the reality is just 9.1% of people cycled at least once a week for any purpose between November 2020 and November 2021. The latest figures from the Department for Transport also showed that this is down 11.6% compared to the same period the year before.

“Clearly, to meet the Government’s transport green goals, more needs to be done to encourage people and businesses to change their transport habits, especially for shorter trips. 

“Nevertheless, changes to legislation that impose stricter rules for cyclists and scooter riders could significantly deter people from making a switch. Striking a balance will be crucial to successfully growing this micro-transport, whilst protecting all road-users fairly.”

Electric Cycle Company opens the largest specialist e-bike shop in the UK … and it’s here in Pilton!

Edinburgh’s Electric Cycle Company has been supercharged

The Electric Cycle Company (ECC), Edinburgh, has just opened its new 4000 square foot, state-of-the-art electric bike store and workshop on Crewe Road North, making it the largest specialist e-bike shop in the UK.

Over four times the size of their previous shop, ECC have created a completely safe and welcoming retail environment with enough space to display a much larger selection of both new and established electric bike brands, quality cycle clothing, and e-bike accessories, alongside a bespoke e-bike maintenance workshop. 

Following an extensive but challenging renovation project during the Covid-19 pandemic, the new shop is a far cry from the more traditional ‘stack’em high’ model of bike retail.  Customers can easily walk around the store while remaining physically distanced. 

The hugely knowledgeable and experienced sales team are able to safely deliver interactive and informative e-bike demonstrations and ‘talk throughs’, perfectly matching the best e-bike to a customer’s age, fitness and skill level, and general lifestyle. 

With bookable sales appointments, vitally important to an unpressured e-bike purchase experience, there is a welcome reception and sales meeting desks, together with a dedicated, comfortable customer waiting area with a TV, coffee machine, and customer toilets.

Neill Hope, Managing Director of ECC, said: “I am so proud of what our small build team and the staff have achieved during the Covid-19 pandemic.  The new shop is even more impressive than my original vision. 

“The e-bike knowledge and the expertise in e-bike sales that we have accumulated over more than ten years has enabled us to create the most progressive bike shop in Scotland; a much more welcoming, comfortable, spacious and safe environment for our customers and staff.  It just so happened that our long-term future proofing project dovetailed perfectly with the requirement for ‘pandemic proofing’.    

“Having started the business in 2006, we quickly established ourselves as Scotland’s leading e-bike specialists, often being frowned upon by the purists within the bike industry who couldn’t see past 100% pedal power. We were just too leftfield.  With our new shop we are again disrupting the industry by going against the grain of bike retail. 

“Sadly, we can’t have a launch party right now. However, the shop is open, and we look forward to welcoming all of our customers, new and old, who travel from all over Scotland and further afield to buy and service their e-bikes, when they can safely travel again.”

A new 3D virtual walk through of the showroom has been produced. 

It has been designed to give customers a fantastic first impression of the new store.  It is also hoped that once they see the shop’s open and COVID safe environment they will be keen to visit in person when restrictions allow.

The ECC are now offering free extended warranties (+ one year) on all new Bosch and Shimano driven bikes.  In order to help combat bike theft all new e-bikes will be fitted with complimentary security tags or trackers and Bikmo Insurance are giving ECC customers 14 days of free rideaway insurance. 

Neill Hope added: “With the UK Government’s Cycle To Work Scheme and the Scottish Government backed Energy Saving Trust eBike Loan scheme to help with e-bike purchases, it is the perfect time to invest in an e-bike.”

Ben Macpherson, MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith, said: “I warmly welcome the opening of the Electric Cycle Company showroom and workshop on Crewe Road North.

“It’s great that there’s so much local demand for sustainable transport and I commend the Electric Cycle Company for involving the community in the e-bike revolution, by offering free repairs during the pandemic, bike loans for Key Workers and support for local community groups.

“I look forward to visiting when restrictions allow and it is safe to do so.”

There are plans for the ECC’s old shop on Granton Road. 

It is soon to become the base for a new Community Interest Company, Urban Initiatives, focusing on e-bike and e-Cargo bike hire, bike maintenance and training, together with local guided rides on eBikes. 

Electric Cycle Company is being supercharged

The Electric Cycle Company, Scotland’s largest specialist e-bike shop, is on the move to a 4000 square foot, carbon neutral premises in Edinburgh. 

Boogie, host of Forth 1’s Breakfast Show, joined Neill Hope, MD of the Electric Cycle Company, to launch a crowdfunding campaign to renovate the building into a new state of the art store and workshop, the biggest e-bike shop in the UK.  

Following year on year growth in the last ten years, Edinburgh’s Electric Cycle Company (ECC), Scotland’s largest specialist e-bike retailer, is on the move to a new 4,000 square foot premises on Crewe Road North, four times the size of their current retail space and workshop on Granton Road.

Building work on the state-of-the-art electric bike store, a far cry from the traditional ‘stack’em high’ model of bike retail, is set to get underway next week and will take an estimated six weeks to complete.

When completed the new shop, scheduled to open in early September, will be the UK’s largest specialist e-bike shop, displaying a large selection of both new and established electric bike brands and quality accessories. 

The shop will have enough showroom space to display bikes to enable the hugely knowledgeable and experienced sales team to safely deliver both interactive and informative e-bike demonstrations and ‘talk throughs’, perfectly matching the best e-bike to a customer’s lifestyle.  With bookable sales appointments, there will be a welcome reception and a dedicated customer waiting and chill out area.

The new store will be one of the first carbon-neutral bike shops in the UK.  The renovation plans include solar panels on the roof and battery banks will take care of lighting and bike charging. Heating will be provided by a biomass boiler powered by the waste packaging the business creates.

The ECC has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise the £70,000 for the renovation of the shop and workshop. 

They are targeting current e-bike customers, new and returning cyclists looking to buy their first e-bikes, and other e-bike owners looking for long term specialist bike maintenance and high end accessories, all of whom will be keen to ‘pay forward’ in order to receive excellent discounts on a wide range of e-bike products, accessories and services that will help them to save money.  Puncture repairs, clothing vouchers, free software updates and bike servicing and discount cards for life are amongst the fantastic rewards for investment.

Neill Hope, Managing Director of ECC, said: “We’ve always been the largest e-bike specialist in Scotland, continuously at the forefront of the industry. My Dad started the Electric Cycle Company in 2006. 

“I took over ten years ago and moved it into proper retail premises on Granton Road.  Since then we have seen our turnover increase year on year, by as much as 500% over this period.  Our staff numbers have increased from two to ten [today] and we now have the widest range of electric bikes in Scotland. 

“This is something I could never have imagined when my family started the business from the back of my Dad’s office, as an offshoot from his plastering company.  We also have the added benefit of being backed by the North Edinburgh community.

“We really hope that our customers, old and new, are keen to support us create the most progressive bike shop in Scotland and a more comfortable, spacious and safer environment for them and our staff.  The range of crowdfunding rewards will be beneficial to their e-bike lifestyles, both now and in the future.

“With their investment we will also be able to reward all of our customers with added value with things like extended guarantees, free security marking, and updates.  It’s a win win for all.”

ECC’s expansion comes at the perfect time as the City of Edinburgh Council plans to make big changes in the way people move around the city.  One of the goals is to create ‘a city where you don’t need to own a car to move around’, a clear shift towards cycling and walking. 

The proposals to shape the Scottish capital for the next decade, City Plan 2030, include expanding the network of cycle paths and linking the park and ride terminals to bike-friendly routes. They also set out potential new areas for park and ride terminals and ‘active travel routes’.

Neill Hope added: “Since the start of the Covid-19 Lockdown there has been a revolution in cycling and our sales have increased by more than 100%, as compared with the same period in 2019. 

“With such a high demand for e-bike sales and maintenance, the Granton Road bike shop and workshop are just too small to operate as safely and efficiently as we want.  Our move can’t come quick enough.

“Our new customers are not only getting to grips with the many health and financial benefits of cycling for both commuting and exercise but also quickly realising that e-bikes make the whole physical process even easier and more joyful than traditional cycling, despite the larger initial investment. 

“Edinburgh, with its many hills, substantial cycle path network, and ongoing council backing is the perfect city for an electric bike.  With the UK Government’s Cycle To Work Scheme and the Scottish Government backed Energy Saving Trust e-Bike Loan scheme to help with e-bike purchases, it is also the perfect time to invest in an e-bike.”

New electric scooter and electric bike store opens on Wednesday

Micromobility developing as Scottish Govt. plans electric scooter trials

  • 17 jobs secured by the Somerset-based business
  • Local retail, repair and servicing facilities
  • Stores managed and staffed by local people
  • Wide range of top brands of ebikes, escooters and accessories

On Wednesday (24 June), the Somerset-based firm Pure Electric will be opening new stores in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

This is part of an ambitious growth program with 9 other stores opening across the UK in the space of a few days, with European growth plans also being developed.

Peter Kimberley, Chief Executive of Pure Electric: “Our ambition is to be the largest e-bike and escooter retailer in Europe. We’ve got a fantastic team and demand is growing every day. Opening these stores is an important milestone for us.”

The business is the brainchild of former Hargreaves Lansdown pensions director Adam Norris, who launched his escooter business in 2018, before diversifying the company into e-bikes as well this year.

Norris recently handed over the role of CEO to Peter Kimberley but continues to work in the business full time, focusing on its growth strategy, its customer engagement and developing corporate partnerships, including Cycle to Work. 

The store openings

The stores have been taken over from the Cycle Republic brand, which was owned by Halfords and which was being closed down. The stores are employing local colleagues who are all former Cycle Republic employees; they will offer a full range of retail, repair and servicing facilities. Pure Electric’s stores will stock a wide range of e-bikes, escooters and accessories from leading manufacturers. 

Escooter trials

The store openings coincide with Department for Transport (DfT) consultations to fast-track trials of escooters in towns across the UK.

In response to Covid-19 and the need to introduce transport alternatives to public transport and private cars, the DfT is inviting applications from any town across Britain to operate escooter trials over the next 12 months.

According to the National Transport Survey, 57% of all car journeys are for distances of less than 5 miles and nearly a quarter are under 2 miles.

With public transport compromised due to Covid-19 infection risks. E-bikes and escooters are the perfect alternative for many of these journeys. 

Growth plans

Pure Electric is already the UK’s leading e-mobility retailer. The firm is developing a network of stores across the UK, with more to follow. It is also set to open retail outlets across Europe, with stores planned in France and Spain. 

Store opening details

Edinburgh: 71 Morrison Street, EH3 8BU

Glasgow: 107 Bothwell Street, G2 6TS

Electric Cycle Company sees 80% rise in lockdown sales

Scotland’s largest specialist e-bike retailer experiences 80% rise in e-bike sales and 200% rise in service sales during Covid-19 Lockdown. Five new members of staff have been contracted and £1500 has been donated to North Edinburgh charities, through an online poll.

Sales of electric bikes (e-bikes) at the Electric Cycle Company (ECC), Scotland’s largest specialist e-bike retailer, based on Granton Road, have increased by at least 80% during the 10 weeks of Covid-19 Lockdown, as compared with the same period in 2019. 

With a sales to square foot ratio of more than £600 per square foot [Tesco is just over £900] in this period, ECC, may also have been the busiest bike retailer in Scotland. Service sales have also increased by as much as 200%; and five new members of staff have been contracted as a direct result.

Neill Hope, MD of the Electric Cycle Company, said: “Nobody could have foreseen Covid-19 occurring and the resulting demand for bikes.

“For obvious reasons, people have not wanted to use public transport during lockdown.  They have also been avoiding non-essential travel by car. The streets have been much quieter and folk are definitely feeling more confident about cycling on the roads with family for their limited daily exercise or to get to work or to the shops.”

“Our new customers are not only getting to grips with the many health and financial benefits of cycling for both commuting and exercise, but also quickly realising that e-bikes make the whole physical process even easier and more joyful than traditional cycling, despite the larger initial investment.  Edinburgh, with its many steep hills, is the perfect city for an electric bike.”

Since 23 March 2020 80% of bike sales at ECC have been to those buying their first e-bike, with the majority of e-bikes being sold in the £2000 – £3000 price bracket.

There has been an even split of male and female customers with an age range of between mid 20’s to the over 60’s.

However, there has been a marked increase in younger women, especially health workers from the NHS, using the UK Government’s Cycle To Work Scheme or the Scottish Government backed Energy Saving Trust eBike Loan scheme to help with their bike purchases.

Despite offering free bike servicing to essential frontline workers from the start of the Covid-19 Lockdown (with any required parts being sold at cost), ECC’s service sales have increased by as much as 200% on the same period last year; with a current waiting time on bike servicing of two weeks.

This far outweighs the regular spike in servicing sales in January and February, when clients are often referred to in house as the ‘New Year’s Resolution Customers’.

Realising that many people have been suffering significantly during the lockdown, the ECC team wanted to do their bit to help out.  Following a recent online poll through Facebook and Twitter, ECC have just donated £1500 to three local charities, giving back to a local community that has nurtured the business over their last ten years of operation.

Neill Hope added: “To assuage our guilt that the business was doing so well out of the most horrible situation, we wanted to give back to the North Edinburgh community with a charitable donation.

“Sharing £1500, Edinburgh Food Project, Cyrenians and Street Soccer Scotland were the three charities our customers voted for in an online poll. This is in addition to our continued annual support to Kids Love Clothes, Granton Youth and St Columba’s Hospice.”

This exponential increase in e-bike sales and bike servicing has led to five additional members of staff being given employment contracts at the ECC – two salespeople, an administrator and two bike mechanics.

Jobs secured as Pure Electric takes over 11 Halfords Cycle Republic stores

  • Specialist electric mobility retailer, Pure Electric, announces the opening of eleven UK wide former Halfords plc ‘Cycle Republic’ stores earmarked for closure, securing 85 jobs
  • Founded by entrepreneur and investor Adam Norris, Pure Electric made its name in electric scooters and is now moving to e-bikes and wider e-mobility
  • Norris calls on the government to ‘get a move on’ with proposed legislation for E-Scooters, which are currently banned in the UK but legal in most other countries such as Germany and France

Pure Electric, the specialist electric mobility retailer formerly known as Pure Scooters, has announced its rapid retail expansion plans for 2020.

The company was looking at four key locations across the UK, but now has a fantastic opportunity to accelerate its growth by taking over eleven of Halfords plc’s Cycle Republic stores earmarked for closure, securing a total of 85 jobs.

Halfords plc made the announcement to colleagues at the eleven Cycle Republic stores on Monday, including the store on Lothian Road, informing them that their jobs would be safe and employment transferred to Pure Electric; all jobs at those stores will be retained.

The announcement bucks a high street trend of closures and marks the beginning of a transport revolution, says the company.

Last month, the Department for Transport (DfT) launched an open consultation in March 2020 entitled “Future of transport regulatory review” which calls for evidence on whether e-scooters and other micromobility vehicles should be permitted. The DfT stated that micromobility could “help us decarbonise transport and tackle congestion and air pollution, make travel more affordable and convenient.”

Launched fourteen months ago by entrepreneur and former Hargreaves Lansdown director, Adam Norris, Pure Electric has ‘a passion to make a real, meaningful positive impact on the way we all travel every day’.

Norris’ passion for game-changing technology is aiming to help tackle urban transport and climate problems by delivering fun, affordable and practical mobility solutions.

The company has recently diversified into e-bikes, stocking the iconic Brompton Electric with a broader e-bike range planned when stores open. In 2018 in the Netherlands, e-bikes outsold regular bicycles equating to €823m of €1.2bn in bicycle sales in 2018. In a similar trend in Germany in 2018, e-bikes outsold electric cars.

Last year, Deloitte predicted that 130 million e-bikes are to be sold globally between 2020 and 2023. It also noted that “the number of e-bikes on the roads will easily outpace other e-vehicles by the end of next year.”

The 11 Pure Electric branded stores are due to open by early summer 2020, subject to government lockdown restrictions.

Pure Electric stocks market-leading ranges of electric scooters, electric bikes and accessories and is calling on Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, to accelerate legalisation on electric scooters.

Electric scooters are becoming hugely popular in the UK but are only allowed to be ridden on private roads with the landowner’s permission, because of the archaic 1835 Highway Act, despite being legal in most other countries.

The company recently launched a petition, already gathering 3,000 signatures, calling on the Government to get a move on with proposed legislation to bring the UK up to speed on electric scooters.

Adam Norris, Founder of Pure Electric, said: “The world of mobility is moving incredibly fast and we’re absolutely committed to being at the forefront of this exciting sector by opening prime city-centre locations.

“Our products have the potential to have a huge positive impact on our transport system. Recently, we’ve seen the role that e-scooters and bicycles have had in providing transport to key workers across the UK, helping them avoid public transport where risk of transmission is much higher.

“We need to look hard at the future of our transport system and COVID-19 has accelerated the scrutiny of the status quo. Last week, in a YouGov study, just 9% want a complete to return to normal and 51% have noticed cleaner air. The time for change is now.”

He added: “A staggering 24% of all trips by car in the UK are under one mile and it’s these short journeys which can be swapped out by e-scooter or e-bike, with monumental impacts to congestion and air quality; travelling by these methods is fun too.

“The government needs to work fast to provide these future options, especially as we come out of the current lockdown restrictions. Public transport isn’t the safest option in terms of transmission, so we should be urgently looking at other options, without adding to air pollution.”

Norris concluded: “Our new stores show our vision and the market potential to not only transform the way people move, but the way people try and buy e-scooters and e-bikes. We can’t wait to serve customers a bigger range and offer free e-bike test rides.

“Every store will have a fully equipped workshop for servicing and repairs providing a first class service for commuters. We’re delighted that in the process of our expansion, we’ve been able to secure 85 colleague jobs from Halfords plc, and look forward to welcoming our new colleagues to the Pure Electric team. We thank Graham Stapleton (CEO Halfords plc,) and the team at Halfords plc for their collaborative approach.”

Peter Kimberley, (previously MD of Cycle Republic and Tredz Bikes), now Pure Electric International Managing Director, said: “I know these fantastic high street sites well and I’m looking forward to bringing the Pure Electric brand from online to major cities across the UK, opening up  new personal services including test rides to commuters and everybody who is interested in changing the way they move.

“It’s an incredibly exciting time for the world of e-bikes, e-scooters and mobility solutions. Personally, I’m really delighted to be able to bring along some great colleagues from Cycle Republic into the Pure Electric family. We can’t wait to open our doors and start serving the needs of customers across the UK.”

For more information, please visit www.pureelectric.com