Sodexo is celebrating the first day of spring 2023 by increasing the amount eligible employees can apply for in its Cycle to Work salary sacrifice scheme to £3,000 to help them buy a new bike, accessories and safety equipment tax-free.
As the weather improves, it is keen to encourage its employees to boost their health and wellbeing by cycling to work, which not only provides regular exercise, but is often a faster, cheaper and greener way to travel.
Sodexo has been offering its employees a salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme for a number of years and recently took the decision to enhance the benefit by increasing the allowance from £1,000 to £3,000 to encourage more to get on their bikes.
To date, 1,888 applications have been made to the scheme. With the increased financial support, the hopes to see more of its people take up cycling.
HR director Mark Goodyer said: “The first day of spring is a great time to start thinking about cycling to work, as the weather starts to improve the flowers and trees start blooming and bird song increases. Not only is it good for your physical and mental health but it also reduces other costs such as public transport, fuel, parking as well as gym membership. Not to mention the time you’ll save from not having to wait for buses, trams or trains or rush hour traffic or roadworks.
“Cycling has minimal impact on the environment too so by encouraging as many people as we can to get on their bikes, we will be helping to protect our planet from harmful emissions.”
For those who already own a bike the scheme can be used to purchase accessories and safety equipment only. They can also donate their bike to the company’s provider which collects unwanted bikes to send to Africa to provide a lifeline to people living in rural communities, enabling them to travel to work, school and to carry goods to sell.
