INTERVIEW
At the BikeBiz Awards 2025
with the exposure to our extensive and increasing corporate client base. We have worked hard over the last ten years to prove our
value and expertise in the Cycle to Work industry, and winning the BikeBiz Award shows our hard work is worth it.
The wider cycling industry has faced well-documented post-pandemic headwinds regarding supply chains and consumer spending. How insulated is the salary-sacrifice sector from these challenges, and how has GCI navigated the current retail climate? GCI isn’t insulated from the market challenges, and we have suffered commercially because some of the less scrupulous bike suppliers have cashed our vouchers immediately before going bust without supplying the goods. We, of course, have no option but to refund the employer and stand the loss ourselves. We believe we increase sales for our retail partners because
we make expensive equipment more affordable to employees, as C2W is financed by the employer, which means the employees effectively get an interest-free finance plan instead of having to find a lump sum up front.
Active travel is becoming a massive part of corporate ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) commitments. How is GCI positioning itself to help large employers hit their sustainability and carbon-reduction targets moving forward? We are highly aware of the increasing pressures and legislation surrounding ESG. GCI itself is rapidly moving along that path, and we actively support our corporate client base to help and encourage them.
42 | November 2026
We have very effective marketing and sales operations who
are tasked with making as many of our clients as possible aware of the opportunities active travel brings and how it can contribute to their efforts.
Looking at the next 3 to 5 years, what is GCI’s ultimate ambition? With the increasing popularity of e-mobility, how much further do you believe the UK Cycle to Work market can actually grow? GCI’s prime motivation is simply to get more people out of cars and onto cleaner forms of transport. The Cycle to Work Scheme is an excellent vehicle to achieve this, and of course electric bicycles have dramatically changed the commuting game. There was a scare in the industry that the Cycle to Work Scheme might have been cancelled in the last budget, but it seems the Government realised that the savings from cancelling it were far outweighed by the clean transport, health and social benefits it brings and so decided it should stay. Any logical appraisal of the scheme must see it continue for
many years to come because we need to address the obesity/ inactivity crisis along with reducing the environmental harms caused by fossil fuel-powered commuting. Whilst solar and wind power generation is rapidly replacing fossil fuel generation, the actual grid infrastructure is a very long way from being able to support high levels of electric car charging. So charging an electric bike is much easier and far more
environmentally friendly than charging a two-ton electric car. Of course, infrastructure is key to getting more people cycling, and that requires significant investment from the government. ●
www.bikebiz.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
