Cyclescheme achieves a gold CFE accreditation

We’re proud to announce that we’re a gold standard Cycle Friendly Employer

Cyclescheme is part of Blackhawk Network Europe and provider of the most impactful cycle to work initiative in the UK. We’re proud that our commitment to getting our own employees on the road has been recognised by the panel at Cycling UK and has resulted in us being awarded the highest-level accreditation.

What is the CFE accreditation?

The Cycle Friendly Employer accreditation, run by Cycling UK, uses five key categories to benchmark workplace performance based on how much you encourage your workforce to cycle.
To earn a CFE accreditation, your workplace must have a Cycle Coordinator or a Bicycle User Group. Having a dedicated resource to organise activities, prompt HR and respond to any support requests is invaluable.

5 key categories assessed:

• Information, communication and incentives for employees
• Coordination and organisation
• Services for employees
• Facilities
• Parking management

To achieve accreditation, your workplace must reach the minimum score for each category, which includes meeting some compulsory measures like cycle parking and providing information to employees. The higher the overall score, the higher accreditation level is attained out of Bronze, Silver or Gold.

How Cyclescheme scored gold:
 

At Cyclescheme, and in our wider Blackhawk Network business, we strive to practise what we preach. That’s why we provide our employees with all the tools they need, to take up cycling to work.

Information, communication and incentives for employees
 

We create activity around multiple national events each year, including Bike Week, Cycle to Work Day, Cycle September and Winter Wheelers.
We plan our own events too. The biggest of these is the ‘Hundred Mile Commute’; our intercompany bike ride. In 2019 the ride was revolutionised to enable riders of any capability to join in; this inclusive approach saw more riders getting involved.

We make sure we always have resources and advice available on our intranet and via our Love to Ride community.

Information includes advice on route planning, our cycle to work scheme and loan bikes. Riders who engage with our Love to Ride community regularly earn kudos and rewards - 4 riders are rewarded every quarter based on their engagement and activity results.

Coordination and organisation
 

As a cycle to work provider, we go out of our way to make the scheme accessible. It’s easy for colleagues to join and we use one of our own features – the ability to pass on employers National Insurance Contribution savings - to make the scheme as attractive as possible.
It’s important to get organised and ensure cycle commuting participation is recorded and rewarded. At Blackhawk Network, we do this via the Love to Ride platform.

Services for employees 
 

One of the key services we extend to our employees is the facility to borrow a bike for almost any purpose. We have Bromptons to hire at lunchtimes, and we can secure test bikes for colleagues looking to start commuting, or even do their first sportive.

We also offer all the same benefits we provide our cycle to work clients to our employees. These include Bike Register (the national cycle database), Cycle Guard (discounted cycle insurance), discounted British Cycling membership and access to Love to ride (our chosen behaviour change platform).

In addition, we periodically organise Dr. Bikes sessions and undertake roadshows to promote the joys of cycling and the cycle to work scheme

Facilities
 

Facilities are fantastic at our UK Blackhawk Network offices; we’ve invested in our working environment and given specific thought to how we can support and prioritise active colleagues. For example, we’ve ensured our bike lockers are closer to the office than our allocated carpark spaces.



Our outdoor bike lockers are substantial and well-lit, plus we’ve got easy-access ground floor bike parking indoors. Once colleagues have secured their bikes, they can enjoy the use of our shower facilities. There are spacious changing facilities with plenty of kit drying racks and lockers for the team to enjoy.

Parking management

We have limited car parking spaces, so we’ve added more bike lockers and a picnic bench for employees to use.
Cyclescheme has also relinquished its fleet vehicles and is now agile in only renting vehicles when it’s unavoidable.

Helping your business achieve a CFE accreditation:

Cyclescheme can help you on the road to becoming a cycle friendly employer in 3 distinct ways.

1. We can run your cycle to work scheme for free. Your employees choose the bike/accessories they want at a 25-39% discount and then spread the cost over 12 monthly payments – plus, as of earlier this year, there is no cap on the upper limit you can offer on the scheme, so it really is any bike, any brand, any price.

2. When you run a scheme through us, you can extend our added-value extras to your workforce.

3. We can save you money on the CFE accreditation itself. Thanks to our long-standing and proactive relationship with Cycling UK, we’re able to offer a unique 20% discount on the CFE program.

Why the Cycle Friendly Employer accreditation matters:
 

All businesses care about outcomes and results, but it is impossible to know how effective something is if you’ve not got measurable data. This what the CFE provides.

When it comes to improving your workplace cycling provisions, you need to know what you’re aiming for. After all, it’s hard to plan a journey if you’ve not got a definitive destination. Cycling UK’s video (featuring our offices!) gives you a few examples of a great place to start.



The CFE team meticulously document your cycling offering. They get under the skin of what you do now, recommend ideas you could easily implement and provide a steer on how to spend your precious facilities budget in a way that will get the most impact.

The CFE also advocates travel surveys, so that year-on-year comparisons can be made and feedback on cycling issues at work or in the local area can be addressed. 
 
To find out more about Cyclescheme or becoming a CFE accredited business, fill out the form.