News
A wheely healthy way to travel: Free bike hire scheme launched in Bay
The capital’s premier business location Cardiff Waterside has teamed up with local bike retailer Tredz to launch a free bike hire scheme in a bid to promote pedal power amongst occupiers. The initiative, which is being launched during National Bike Week (14-22 June) is aimed at improving the health, wallets and carbon footprints of workers in the Bay.
The Cardiff Waterside management team realised the increasing appeal of two wheels after noticing that the site’s bike parking bays have been full for the past few months. Car parking spaces at buildings including Scott Harbour have even been converted into bike racks in order to cope with demand from tenants.
Now in order to further increase cycle usage by tenants, Cardiff Waterside is launching a bike hire scheme for employees at the site, with staff being offered the complimentary use of top of the range bicycles. And to ensure staff are not taking to the roads uninitiated, experts from Tredz will be running ‘bike doctor’ workshops offering advice on everything from how to ride in rush-hour traffic to basic bike maintenance.
Laura Clements, Cardiff Waterside said, “Cardiff Waterside benefits from excellent transport links whether you’re arriving by road, rail, air or even by boat. The cycle path network in the Bay is excellent and conveniently links to most parts of the city. The Cardiff Bay barrage is due to open this summer too, which means that even staff from the Vale of Glamorgan will be able to bike over to their desks every morning.
“Through our cycle initiative we’re trying to show people that cycling to work at Cardiff Waterside can be a convenient, carbon neutral and cost-effective method of transport. We’ve already been inundated with requests from tenants who can’t wait to get their bicycle clips on and get pedalling.”
Nick Fluck, Tredz said, “We’re determined to raise the profile of cycling in the city and the Bay is a great place to push the appeal of two wheels.
“Unleaded is now £5 per gallon, diesel is over £1.20 a litre, add to that the price of parking and cycling to work makes alot of sense. It can save money, the environment and cut your chances of heart disease.”
Staff who try out the scheme and decide to take up cycling full-time will benefit from a 10% discount in Tredz on bikes and accessories
Mike Brown, team leader at New Law, explained the benefits of cycling to work, “I cycle 4 miles to and from work whatever the weather. I find it really enjoyable and a great stress reliever after a hard day. I think the idea of traffic puts a lot of people off but during rush hour the traffic is quite slow moving anyway so it isn’t a problem. It is definitely something I would recommend to others to give a go.”
Helen Ashcroft, a litigation assistant at New Law, said, “I get the train to work at the moment but on a sunny day I have often thought that cycling home would be really nice I have just never been brave enough to take the plunge and actually buy a bike. I think it is great now I can try it out without any expense to see if it really is as easy as everyone says it is.”
This commitment to green transport is part of a wider environmental policy which is being adopted across the whole Cardiff Waterside estate. An eco-champion has been appointed at each of the 26 tenants to ensure the estate’s impact on the environment is kept to a minimum.
Cardiff Waterside offers 460,000 sq ft of Grade A office space at the heart of the capital’s waterfront across seven flexible, contemporary buildings. Planning consent has been granted for another 500,000 sq ft with 3 Assembly Square, expected to be Wales’ greenest office building, currently under construction and due for completion in spring 2009. The building is planned to have a large number of spaces for bicycle parking.
ENDS
For further information, please contact Daniel Tyte (daniel.tyte@workingwordpr.com) at Working Word PR on 029 2048 8778.
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Recent Morley Awards
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Best Property Manager - Financial News Excellence in Institutional Management Awards, Europe 2007
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Property Manager of the Year, UK Pensions Awards 2007
Morley’s G7 Fund awarded Fixed Income Hedge Fund of the Year, Eurohedge Awards 2006
Equity End User of the Year – Derivatives Week DEAL Awards 2006
Property Fund Manager of the Year, Pensions Management Awards 2006
Best Commitment to Raising Standards of Trustee Education, Engaged Investor Awards 2006
Property Fund Manager of the Year, Property Week Awards 2006
SRI Provider of the Year, Global Pensions 2006
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