BIG INTERVIEW
hue, is facing the same challenges – to secure Britain’s new place in the world post-Brexit, to revitalise its economy, and to tackle climate change. This represents a real opportunity for the cycle industry to demonstrate how it can play a key role in all these areas – a true “green growth” sector, which can generate business growth and jobs, and which can play a fundamental role in decarbonising transport – still the largest carbon contributor.
This is
The BA has also launched a new diversity project PHOTO: SIMON WILKINSON VIA UNSPLASH
an MP with a message about the cycle industry alongside local cycle businesses in their constituency. It’s a powerful combination and we’re keen to do more of this in 2024.
We saw the BA and ACT work together on e-bike battery and fire safety advice, can we expect more collaborative efforts in the future? The BA and ACT have worked together for many years, albeit not always as closely, and I believe the two organisations complement each other well. When the BA made the case to Government just ahead of the Covid pandemic that cycle businesses – particularly retailers - should be deemed “essential” and allowed to remain open for example, the ACT and BA worked together on an “open cycle shop” map with Sustrans to highlight the nearest places people – particularly key workers - could obtain bikes, parts and servicing. The e-bike battery and fire safety advice is just another example of where the BA’s national role interacting for example with Govt Departments like the DfT, Office for Product Safety, and fire authorities is well complemented by the ACT’s reach through local bike shops to get key advice and messaging to the front line and ultimately to consumers. We see lots of opportunities to work together in future, so watch this space.
What do you see as the biggest opportunities for the bike industry in 2024? Without doubt the biggest opportunity in the UK comes from the forthcoming change in government. This is not a party- political statement - cycling should not be a party-political issue. But nevertheless, the next government, whatever its
22 | January 2024
a chance to re-present cycling – not as a culture war battle over road- space as we see in so much media – but as an “industrial case” for an industry bursting with innovative
technology, products and services, which can deliver any incoming Government’s economic and climate agendas. Our industry supplies the lowest carbon, lowest cost electric vehicles available for mass uptake today in the form of e-bikes and e-cargo cycles. And yet we’re not yet recognised by government as a strategic vehicle industry providing the best electric vehicles for short trips. We’ve got a chance to change this in 2024 and the BA is determined to try and take it.
What are some of the things the BA has going on in 2024? As an Association we want to engage with our members and Investors in Cycling wherever possible. We’re going to be at COREbike and IceBike as we have in previous years and hope to meet as many people as possible. We’re also holding our Members’ Annual Conference in Birmingham in February and urge as many of our members as possible to come along. I’d like to mention a new project, which has been over 12 months in the making, launching summer 2024 – our national battery collection and recycling project (catchy name yet to be confirmed).
This is a great example of where the BA’s industry-wide and non-profit approach can work to tackle a serious, non- competitive, issue and lower costs for the whole industry. We know that battery safety is a growing problem, and we know that retailers and workshops are often on the frontline for receiving old, spent, or damaged lithium batteries. This issue is only going to grow as more e-bikes are sold, and older e-bike systems reach the end of their lives. We’ve piloted the scheme in the North West, and are aiming to launch a national scheme in mid-2024, whereby batteries will be collected from dedicated fire-proof bins from retailers for free, and then recycled responsibly. Watch this space.
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