Household retail store Ikea has given its 9,000 employees a fold-up bike each, in an attempt to reduce the quantity of harmful gasses that are released into the environment when staff travel to work on buses, trains and in cars.
The bikes were presented to staff as a Christmas gift at the firm’s annual Christmas breakfast, and it is hoped that staff will use them to travel to and from work or for stages of their journey where they may previously have jumped on a bus or used a car.
Peter Hogsted, UK country manager at Ikea, said that more employers should take responsibility for the environment by implementing such initiatives.
"The bike is a fun present but there is a serious message. We all have the responsibility to do what we can to protect the environment," he explained.
The store has also offered 15% off of travel tickets to encourage more staff to use public transport instead of travelling into work in individual cars and multiplying environmental damage.