RETAILERS
Velohub sits within Transition Extreme, a social enterprise and Scottish charity
“People want to come to Aberdeen on cruise ships and come and visit our city which is great,” explains Robertson. “Off the back of it, we’ve packaged up a bike city tour. We’ve trained up six cyclists for the cycle leadership course. We’re in the middle of doing our risk assessments and setting up the routes so that we can do anything from a one hour taster session to a bigger package, which will take in some arts and heritage sites.
Developing a niche For Robertson, the modus operandi when creating Velohub was a simple one: ride, rent and repair. “Ride is all about the retail side of it and getting people out there on their bikes,” he explains. “The rent does what it says on the tin with rental bikes. And for the repair, we’ve set up a little maintenance bay and I’ve got a mechanic that works with me.” The store covers a range of disciplines with adventure,
gravel, dirt jump and BMX bikes available alongside a portfolio of e-bikes for on-and-off-road . As well as the business-to-consumer side, Velohub has also expanded into business-to-business services. This includes partnerships with BikeFlex and Arval to provide fleet solutions, as well as some independent service agreements. Being located in the ‘Granite City’ also offers some unique opportunities which Velohub is working to capitalise on.
“It’ll also take in lunch and then right at the end when they give the bikes back – maybe a little bit of a whiskey taster.” Collaboration and support from Visit Aberdeen and Visit Aberdeenshire has also helped the company develop these excursions. Currently, Aberdeen expects to see 53 cruise ships per year until 2027. This is then expected to rise to 100 annually. “We’re trying to promote what the city is about, its heritage and its history of how it’s got to where it’s got to, so it’s nice having people working with us who are passionate about that as well,” Roberson says of working with Visit Aberdeen and Visit Aberdeenshire
“They’ve been phenomenal. They’re really encouraging and helping us package up our offering.”
Community involvement As the name suggests, Robertson is keen for Velohub to be more than just another store that services customers. “Yes, we’re a business, we need to put food on the table like everyone else, but we’re also about giving something back to the community as well,” he explains.
Transition Extreme features an outdoor pump track
www.bikebiz.com
May 2024 | 19
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