The bike to work scheme is a hugely popular scheme that allows employees to grab brand-new bikes and accessories through their employer, saving money through tax efficiencies.

It’s a well-known and incredibly popular benefit, but are you really making the most of it as an employee benefit, for your business and your employees?

To truly maximise the scheme’s potential, businesses need to understand how to promote and support the scheme effectively.

This guide explores how to make the most of the bike to work scheme, highlighting key strategies and the bike to work scheme benefits that drive employee engagement and wellbeing.

What is the Bike to Work Scheme?

The bike to work scheme is a government-backed salary sacrifice initiative that enables employees to save on the cost of a new bicycle and safety equipment.

By spreading the cost over monthly payments and saving on tax and National Insurance, employees can enjoy significant savings.

Businesses save too of course, with the NI-saving aspect of the scheme becoming even more popular due to the rise in employer’s national insurance costs.

Key Benefits of the Scheme

Here are some of the top bike to work scheme benefits:

  • Financial savings through tax and NI contributions for both employers and employees
  • Improved physical and mental wellbeing
  • Reduced carbon footprint and support for sustainability goals
  • ncreased employee engagement and satisfaction

How Employers Can Maximise Engagement

To make the most of the bike to work scheme, employers should focus on communication, accessibility, and support.

Here are some practical tips to help any business drive more engagement with the bike to work scheme:

  • Promote the scheme during onboarding and benefits reviews
  • Provide clear, easy-to-understand information and FAQs
  • Offer flexible options for different budgets and needs
  • Encourage participation through internal campaigns and success stories
  • Run supplier-led workshops to help demonstrate the advantages of the scheme

Aligning with Business Goals

The bike to work scheme can support broader organisational objectives such as sustainability, employee wellbeing, and corporate social responsibility.

By integrating the scheme into your overall benefits strategy, you can enhance its impact and demonstrate your commitment to a healthier, greener workplace.

Even beyond the employee health advantages, making cycling and e-bikes in particular more accessible for employees, allowing them to make great tax savings, goes a long way to supporting financial wellbeing too.

The Surge in E-Bike Popularity

After the initial £1,000 application limit on the scheme was removed, suddenly the bike to work scheme was opened up to allow employees to more easily afford e-bikes.

This marked a sudden shift in usage of the scheme and opened up the scheme to more employees regardless of their cycling experience.

E-bikes make it incredibly easy to commute via cycling and the ability to afford this kind of bike only served to make the scheme even more popular.

This change in both the way the scheme was set up and the surging popularity of e-bikes has made the scheme a no-brainer for employers to provide.

When promoting the scheme, it’s essential for businesses to showcase just how much more affordable the scheme makes bikes such as e-bikes for employees.

Now, the scheme is for everyone. Employers who leverage this will see the greatest scheme uptake.

What uptake and engagement should you expect?

At The Access Group, we typically see engagement rates of around 11% with the bike scheme, although it can vary.

Factors such as the location and demographic of employees, scheme communication and how frictionless the benefits experience is all can either contribute to or hind the engagement rates you may see.

As this guide has demonstrated, there are many ways to drive greater scheme engagement. However, we know that no two businesses are the same, so ensuring a communications approach that’s right for your business is crucial.

Conclusion

The bike to work scheme is clearly very popular for many reasons. By understanding the full range of bike to work scheme benefits and implementing best practices, employers can ensure their workforce gets the most out of this valuable initiative.

At The Access Group, we’ve been supporting over 2,000 businesses for over 15 years with our comprehensive employee benefits and engagement solutions.

The Bike to Work scheme is just one part of our comprehensive employee benefits, rewards and engagement offering, which is also deeply integrated within our wider HR software suite.

Ready to see it for yourself? For more information on how we can help you and your business, get in touch today.

Related Companies