Cycle to Work — Employers • Cycle to Work • Customer Service • About Us • Alpine Bikes

1. Step by Step

Step 1: Contact us

If you are an employer who would like to sign up for the Alpine Bikes Cycle to Work scheme please email cycle2work@alpinebikes.co.uk . In your email please include the following information:

Name
Job title
Organisation name
Number of employees
Contact telephone number

Our Cycle to Work team will contact you and provide you with all the relevant information required to sign up so that your employees can start enjoying the benefits of Cycle to Work. We can also offer you a free onsite consultation to answer all your questions face to face.

Already signed up?

If you are already signed up for the Alpine Bikes Cycle to Work you can download the Alpine Bikes Hire Agreement form and Pre-contract Information form below.

You can also contact us at cycle2work@alpinebikes.co.uk or on 079 2075 2062 to arrange a free consultation or a mobile Cycle to Work workshop.

The Cycle to Work Scheme offers tax incentives that enable your staff to enjoy great savings on the price of a new bicycle. Once you sign up for a Cycle to Work Scheme in partnership with Alpine Bikes, it gives employees the opportunity to lease the bicycle of their choice via a tax-efficient salary sacrifice scheme over an agreed term (typically 12 or 18 months).

Employees can select from Alpine Bikes vast range of bikes including sale and special offer bikes and top-up their order with related safety equipment - for instance: a lock, a helmet and a set of lights. The combined value of the bike and accessories can be up to £1000 or more depending on your credit license. Employees get to spread the cost of the whole order over an agreed period by having the cost of the bike deducted from their GROSS pay. The net result is that each employee gets the use of a brand new bike at up to 50% off its regular price.

2. What is the administration process involved in setting up the scheme?

The level of administration required is as follows:

Making the legal documentation as supplied by Alpine Bikes available to all staff.
Promoting the Alpine Bikes Cycle to Work scheme to your employees. Alpine Bikes will assist with this by providing information leaflets and will even visit your organization to talk to your staff directly at a time that is convenient for you. We will also provide a FREE mobile workshop and 3 month safety workshop to help your employees maintain and get the most from their bicycles.
Checking the eligibility of employees.
Implementing the salary sacrifice process.
Paying invoices from Alpine Bikes within agreed terms.
Managing leavers from the scheme.
Dealing with the fair market value payment at the end of the scheme if required.

3. Why choose Alpine Bikes as your Cycle to Work partner?

Experience – Alpine Bikes has been running successful Cycle to Work schemes for businesses across Scotland since the start of the government’s Cycle to Work initiative in 2003. Our experience means that we can help you at every stage and ensure a quick and simple process for your business.
Compliance - we are experienced at complying with the requirements of HM Treasury; we can supply legal & admin documentation and we can assist you with marketing the scheme to your employees. In other words, Alpine Bikes understands all aspects of the Cycle to Work Scheme.
Flexibility - Alpine Bikes can adapt its scheme to suit your organisation’s needs. You can determine the length of the repayment period (usually 12 or 18 months) and decide whether to pass on the VAT savings. One possibility is that you can use these funds to offset the admin costs of running the Scheme.
Support - Alpine Bikes can offer a complete support package to inform your staff of the benefits of the Cycle to Work Scheme. This can include FAQs, leaflets and presentations- all tailored to your workplace. We will also come to your business with our Cycle to Work and safety workshops.
Employee Benefits:
- Choice and Range – we are the largest independent bike retailer in Scotland offering a wide range of bikes and accessories including brands like Trek, Gary Fisher, Cannondale and Marin. Unlike other Cycle to Work schemes, Alpine Bikes does not exclude sale and special offer bikes.
- Commitment – The Alpine Bikes Cycle to Work team are on hand to guide you and your employees through the cycle to work process. We are focused on providing an all round service from help setting up an account to advising on a bike, assisting in maintaining the bikes and providing all the paper work for the Cycle to Work Scheme and individual bikes.
- Bike Maintenance –We offer a FREE mobile workshop and 3 month service to help your employees maintain and make the most of their Cycle to Work bikes.

4. Requesting an Cycle to Work consultation

To speak to one of our dedicated Cycle to Work team please email us at cycle2work@alpinebikes.co.uk and include the following information to ensure that your query is directed to the closest store. We guarantee to respond to your enquiry within 24 hours.

Name:
Job title:
Organisation name:
Approx number of employees:
Full postal address:
Contact telephone number:

Alternatively you can call our Cycle to Work team on 079 2075 2062.

5. Key points when setting up a Cycle to Work Scheme

Bicycle Usage: You should make it clear to staff that at least 50% of the bicycle's intended usage should be work related. The rest of the time, the employee is at liberty to use the bike for recreation.
Employer's Cash Flow: Running a scheme where your organisation pays for the bicycles upfront, then gets the money back via employee salary sacrifices, may have cash flow implications for your organisation. Alpine Bikes also offers payment terms for companies looking to have 12 or more employees on their Cycle to Work scheme. For more information or advice on this please contact cycle2work@alpinebikes.co.uk or call 079 2075 2062.
Repayment Period: This is usually 12 or 18 months, however the employer can set a shorter repayment period.
VAT: If VAT registered, your organisation will be able to reclaim the VAT on the purchase. For instance, if the employee chooses a bike and safety equipment that come to a total of £460, you can claim £60 back. You can choose whether to pass the savings onto employees or use the funds to offset administrative costs.
Consumer Credit Licence: As a rule, employees can choose bicycles and safety equipment up to a maximum value of £1,000 under the Cycle to Work Scheme. However, if your organisation has a Consumer Credit Licence, there is no limit to the value of the bicycles and equipment your staff can choose. If you apply for a Consumer Credit Licence the application process normally take between 6 and 10 weeks and the licence costs a one-off payment of £970. For more advice please contact Alpine Bikes by emailing cycle2work@alpinebikes.co.uk or phone 079 2075 2062.
Shared Ownership: The employee cannot share ownership of the bicycle with the employer over the hire period. This means that when a limit is set (say, at £1,000) the employee cannot opt for a more expensive bike by paying the difference to Alpine Bikes.
Transfer of Ownership: At the end of the scheme, employees will not own the bicycle or safety equipment, the employer will. This is because salary sacrifice is a hire agreement, not a purchase agreement. Transfer of ownership can take place with a one-off Fair Market Value payment (plus VAT) if so wished. If your organisation does transfer ownership of the bicycle to the employee with a one-off Fair Market Value Payment, it must be a separate agreement after the hire period is complete. You can also choose to allow the employee to continue using the bicycle after the hire period is complete without transferring ownership. The bicycle then remains the property of the employer and, as such, can be declared as an asset in your company accounts.

6. Alpine Bikes Cycle to Work Step by Step

The employee selects a bicycle and safety equipment at their local branch of Alpine Bikes. With the help of our friendly staff they will fill in their Customer Order Details Form with details of their chosen Cycle to Work bike and accessories and the total cost. The Customer Order Details form will double up as a Pro Forma invoice however, if you would like a separate Pro Forma invoice please let us know.
The employee then takes their form Customer Order Details form to your HR / finance / personnel department who approves the purchase
Your company arranges for the payment to be processed directly to Alpine Bikes:
Alpine Bikes Ltd
A/c: 00395768
Sort: 80-06-60
VAT reg: 6638 36212
Together with your employee sign the Hire Agreement form. You can also fill in the Pre-Contract information form for your own records.
Once the payment has been cleared by Alpine Bikes, your employee will receive written confirmation that their Cycle to Work bike and accessories are ready for collection.
In order to collect their Cycle to Work bike and accessories, your employee should visit their Alpine Bikes shop ensuring that they bring their written confirmation and photo ID.

If you are looking to have more than 12 employees who are going to join the Cycle to Work scheme, Alpine Bikes will be happy to set up an account for you to simplify the process. Please contact accounts@alpinebikes.co.uk for more information.

7. The Hire Agreement

This is the formal agreement between the employer and the employee. As ever, Alpine Bikes has already prepared the ground for you by creating this Hire Agreement which you can download and use. We recommend you make the Hire Agreement available so that employees can read the terms and conditions prior to joining the scheme. We also recommend that smaller organisations that are not using carbonated Hire Agreements ensure that two Hire Agreements are completed: one to keep for the employee’s records and one to keep for the employer’s records. We have also created a Pre-contract Information form which you can fill out for your own records.

8. Department for Transport Booklet

The Department for Transport's Cycle to Work booklet is full of useful information on the implementation and administration of the scheme. To download this booklet click here.

9. Sole traders

You can even take advantage of the Cycle to Work Scheme if you are a sole trader.

If you use the PAYE scheme, you can buy the bike as an employer and lease it back to yourself as an employee, thus saving yourself between 30% and 50% off the bike's retail price.

If, like many sole traders, you pay yourself an occasional lump sum rather than a regular salary, you will not be able to commit to a monthly salary sacrifice, so you won't be eligible to join the Scheme.

You can still make savings however, if you intend to use a bicycle for work-related journeys. You would purchase the bike from Alpine Bikes in the normal way then claim back capital allowances and write the purchase off against tax. To do this you will require an invoice from Alpine Bikes addressed to your company and we can supply this to you on request

This facility is explained in the Department for Transport Cycle to Work Scheme booklet. Alpine Bikes recommends that you discuss this option with your accountant before purchasing the bike.

10. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

To make it easier we have compiled a list of frequently asked questions. Click here to view this list online or download our FAQ PDF. For further information contact our Cycle to Work team on telephone 079 2075 2062 or email cycle2work@alpinebikes.co.uk

Click here to download the Employer Information leaflet.