Cycle to Work with Green Commute Initiative

Save from 32% up to 47% on a new bicycle, here’s how:

Are you;

· looking at reducing your household costs?

· Aiming to be more environmentally friendly?

· Trying to live a more active lifestyle?

· Avoiding costly credit card APR’s?

If you answered yes to any of the above, we may be able to help you achieve your goals by saving you between 32% – 47% when buying a bicycle through the Green Commute Initiative (GCI) – check out the savings calculator on this page to see how much it will cost and what you would save.

Who are the GCI? They are a Social Enterprise and are self-supporting, putting their profits back into getting more commuters cycling. Their vision is to encourage commuters out of their cars and onto a bicycle, with the dual purpose of improving the individual’s health and wellbeing, as well as reducing the environmental impact of pollution and congestion from motor vehicles. Cycle Sphere endorse their ethos, and therefore they are our preferred partner for Cycle to Work scheme.

How does this Cycle to work scheme operate? It is a salary sacrifice scheme; this means that the cost of the bike (and any chosen accessories) is deducted by your employer from your salary for the agreed number of months – usually 12 -24 months. The deduction from your wages lowers your gross salary (before tax) and therefore decreases the amount of Income Tax and National Insurance paid – saving you between 32% and 47% on the price of the bicycle package.

Who has access to the GCI Scheme – If you are an employee i.e. receiving a salary through PAYE and you are earning above the minimum wage you can buy through the GCI Scheme.

How easy is it to set up? It is very easy! The GCI have simplified all the stages of buying your bike. They handle all the admin using standard templates for the Salary Sacrifice Agreement and the Hire Agreement which are send out electronically. Once those have been signed, GCI ensures all parties receive their copies and send out the voucher.

It maybe that your employer would like to support its employees and enable them to buy through the GCI, but can’t because of cash flow constraints, this can be resolved. GCI offer a finance package through a partner which is typically at 8% this means the employer will still save nearly 6% on NI contributions with no effect on cash flow.

What is the spend limit with GCI? Unlike other cycle to work schemes; there is no cap on the spend, this makes it possible to buy a good quality bike, be it a traditional bicycle or an e-bike. You can also add accessories & clothing to the order. You and your employer should make sure that it is affordable.

Can I use the bike outside of my commute? Yes you can use the bike for leisure too. You are not required to log mileage but should ensure that, over the lifetime of the bike, most of its use has been for commuting.

How can the GCI do this? The Government’s cycle to work scheme is based on a bicycle hire agreement with no automatic right to ownership until the end of the hire period. However, the GCI, unlike other scheme providers you will not charge a 7% end-of-scheme fee. After the loan period you can buy the bike from GCI for £1. The £1 demonstrates to HMRC when the transaction took place.

The Cycle Sphere team are passionate about cycling and want to inspire and assist people to cycle. This includes all categories of cyclist from the occasional leisure cyclist through to the athlete. The GCI is an enabler, presenting our community with an option that facilitates cycling. We offer GCI because we align with their ethos and our team love to enable cycling. We take pride and pleasure in looking after our customers and nurturing them throughout their cycling journey.

I hope the above has been informative and of interest to you. If you have any questions or queries, please don’t hesitate to pop in and speak to a member of our team.

The above is an outline of the Green Commute initiative for full information please visit www.greencommuteinitiative.uk The savings and figures given in this article where correct at the time of writing (07/01/2023).