One of the main advantages of the cycle to work scheme is that employees do not have to spend a big chunk of money in one go to get a bike or cycling equipment. When an employer buys a bike or cycling equipment via the scheme, it is typically for an employee who has identified what they want in a local bike shop and submitted a quote that the shop has provided.

Quotes are submitted to employers via the cycle to work scheme provider that the company is signed up with. At Bike2Work Scheme, we make this process straightforward – employees submit a quote to their employer by logging into our online system. By this point, they’ve already been associated with their employer using a unique company pin number.

Once a quote has been submitted, the employer can either accept or reject it. This decision might be based on the value of the goods being requested or the type of items that the employer is willing to purchase. Of course, this should all have been outlined by the employer at the beginning of the process, so the employee should know what’s fair game and gaining approval for the quote should be a formality.

When a quote is approved, a cycle to work scheme voucher is generated by the provider and delivered to the employee. At this point, they can return to the bike shop where they got the quote and redeem the voucher, walking out with the bike and/or equipment they requested. The voucher acts as payment for the goods by the provider, which, in turn, invoices the employer.

With the bike shop having been paid and the provider having been paid, all that remains is for the employee to reimburse their employee via weekly or monthly instalments over an agreed hire period.