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The UCL Knowledge: Cycle Scheme

30 January 2024

If you’re interested in travelling more sustainably, whilst keeping up a healthy and active lifestyle, take a look at UCL’s Cycle Scheme. You could make substantial savings on the cost of a new bike or one of the rental subscription schemes in London.

Four bicycles attached to bike stands in front of railings. Behind the railings are trees with leaves in bright Autumn colours of red, yellow and orange.

UCL’s Cycle Scheme has been running since 2018. Since then, more than 1,650 staff have used the scheme to get a bike and save money. In 2022 the scheme expanded to include bike rental to help staff pay for their annual subscription fees for Santander cycles, Brompton, Buzzbike and Swapfiets and spread the cost over 12 months via salary sacrifice. 

How does it work?  

If you’d like to own a bike you can select any make/model of bike up to a value of £5,000 through independent bike shops taking part in this scheme. The bike is paid for via a ‘salary sacrifice scheme’, where employees can forgo a fixed amount of their gross salary each month in exchange for a non-cash benefit (in this case, purchasing a bike). As the cost of the bike is deducted from the gross salary, rather than net, this allows the employee to benefit from income tax and NI relief. 

The scheme also works the same for bike rental subscriptions in London, e.g. with Buzzbike, etc. 

An illustration showing how the cycle scheme works, with the cost of the bike deducted from gross salary before income tax.

For more information, take a look at the HR website.

Find out more at our upcoming webinar

Additionally, we invite you to join our upcoming webinar on 8 February 2024, at 11.00. This session will guide you on how you can use the Cycle Scheme and provide an opportunity to address any questions you may have. (Click on the date to open the invite and save to your outlook calendar, alternatively use the QR code below to join). 

A graphic advertising the cycle scheme webinar on 8 February 2024. The graphic contains a QR code to join the meeting.

About The UCL Knowledge

This regular series of articles aims to provide a “user’s guide” to UCL, looking at tips and tricks to make everyday tasks easier, and highlighting staff benefits, networks and opportunities.