CYCLE TO WORK SCHEMES

Paradise Cycles accept lots of different 'cycle to work' vouchers, but not all. So please check the list below, or send us an email to check if we can accommodate the scheme your employer uses. 95% of the time, it's no trouble.

The bike shop pays a commission to the scheme provider when we redeem your voucher, and the rate varies with provider.

It remains the best way to buy a high value bike. It's also great for us as the bike retailer, as it means we can sell you a nicer bike than your would otherwise buy with cash or credit options, despite the commission which we lose to the provider.

Save a lot of money on the cost of a new bike, and/or parts & accessories. Typical savings vary between 32-45% off! It is taken monthly as a salary sacrifice as a part of your employers payroll process, in either 12 or 13 equal instalments.

That means, for example if your salary is £35k you can get a £3,600 Veloe Multi Electric Bike for effectively £2,448 (32% saving), with a salary sacrifice of £204 per month for 12 months.

Benefits of this UK Government Legislation

  • Get a brand new bike without paying anything upfront.
  • The payment is taken from your regular payroll, as a salary sacrifice.
  • Get a much nicer and more expensive bike that you would if you were paying with cash.
  • Vouchers can be used to buy parts and accessories only, so you could do some serious upgrades to an existing bike if you want.

Disadvantages

  • It gets a little complicated if you are a self employed person, and not earning regular wages from a single employer.
  • There is a list of disallowed items which the voucher cannot be used for, such as labour, food, turbo trainers, etc.
  • It's a hire purchase agreement, and has legal implications you should be aware of before entering into. Such as:
  • You don't own the bike until the agreement is ended, your employer does. So don't loose it! Get it insured, or you may end up out of pocket for a bike you no longer possess.
  • Your personal cashflow is better if you stay at issuing employer long enough to pay the voucher off. If you leave before the end of the term, a lump sum payment would be calculated. Like any credit agreement, it can hurt if you have a big outstanding balance when you try and exit early.

SCHEME PROVIDERS

Paradise Cycles is signed up with all the main scheme providers, but not every scheme provider.

They all do the same job, or generating a hire purchase agreement document, and providing the correct salary sacrifice instructions to the payroll administrator at your business. They also handle all the questions and agreement admin to save your employer from having to.

To pay for this they take a commission from the sale. The best provider with the lowest commission is GCI, and we thanks them for it! They have excellent customer service and are looking out for small independent retailers. We have never had any issues with them.

Accepted Vouchers

  1. Green Commute Initiative (GCI)
  2. Cycle Scheme
  3. Cycle Solutions
  4. Bike 2 Work
  5. Dash Rides
  6. Vivup
  7. Cycle To Work (Halfords)
  8. Caboodle

Not Accepted Vouchers

  • Ride To Work (Evans Cycles)
  • Enjoy Benefits
  • My Benefits World

First Steps

Have a look at the GCI calculator, to see what savings you could make and how much the salary sacrifice would be on a new bike purchase.

CLICK HERE FOR THE GCI CALCULATOR (Opens New Window)

Example of the GCI Calculator:

Ask you employer what they offer!

Approach your employer, to see if they have used the scheme with anyone else in the company, and if so, which provider was used.

If it isn't GCI or CycleScheme then see if they would consider switching their provider to a new provider (specifically GCI), so the bike shop can benefit from a much lower commission rate of 5% instead of 9+%.

Second Step

Come to the shop, and talk with one of our team about putting an order together that is tailored for you!

We will produce a quote that gives you a good idea of the total you should apply for. As well as a timeline for stock availability, and so on. We may ask for a deposit payment, if the bike has to be ordered.

Third Step

Apply for your voucher. Sign the agreement. Wait for the voucher to arrive in your inbox. Then send it to us, so we can redeem it.

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We will process it on the till. Sort out any return of deposit payments when it's settled. Once we've received funds, and once the bike is ready to collect, then it's new bike day!