Cyclescheme.co.uk - specifically
Discussion
Work is looking into the supply of bikes under one of these tax incentive schemes - jsut taking farking ages to sort it out.
What I need to know......with cyclescheme.co.uk SPECIFICALLY, is "does it cost the company ANYTHING" in therms of running costs?? Obviously they have to pay for the bikes, but are there ANY other costs.
From what we can see it doesn't - you set it up and they administer it all and get a kick back from the dealers.
We've had this confirmed and still the boss won't commit to it.
Just need someone who has set up this particular scheme to confirm please........
TIA,
Steve
What I need to know......with cyclescheme.co.uk SPECIFICALLY, is "does it cost the company ANYTHING" in therms of running costs?? Obviously they have to pay for the bikes, but are there ANY other costs.
From what we can see it doesn't - you set it up and they administer it all and get a kick back from the dealers.
We've had this confirmed and still the boss won't commit to it.
Just need someone who has set up this particular scheme to confirm please........
TIA,
Steve
Cheers Mackie - that's what I was hoping to hear!!
I've got a sponsored ride to France coming up and want to get the new bike prior to that - but it's in 4 weeks so cutting it fine
My local bike shop is willing to be "flexible" but I need to know my company is going to do the scheme and I can get my voucher, before I commit to the bike..........
I'll see if I can get the commitment from the company tomorrow!!!
I've got a sponsored ride to France coming up and want to get the new bike prior to that - but it's in 4 weeks so cutting it fine
My local bike shop is willing to be "flexible" but I need to know my company is going to do the scheme and I can get my voucher, before I commit to the bike..........
I'll see if I can get the commitment from the company tomorrow!!!
All cycle schemes cost the company nothing to run - they do however need the cash upfront to be able to finance the scheme. However, saved employers NIC pays for both the internal admin and the financing costs. Just not all companies have access to the cash in these current times.
HOWEVER - the are better solutions !
All commercial schemes are just that - they are there to make money themselves. Hence when you get a voucher they charge the bike shop 10% to cash in that voucher. So for a £1,000 bike the shop only gets £900. Or put it another way - YOU are paying for that voucher, albeit saving VAT, PAYE and NIC. That £100 could buy you accessories or another £100 of bike.
It all depends on the Company you work for. Can you become 'scheme champion' and take a lead. The paperwork is available on the web and just needs tailoring in Word to make it fit you Company. I can guide you in if needed.
My approach was to contact 2 local shops, if you have access to independents, and agree terms. This is a minimum 10% discount. We bought 14 bikes. One shop got 2/3rds of the business so extended their discount to 12%. These shops had access to Spec, Giant, Trek, Cube, Gary Fisher, Diamonback, etc plus electric bikes - so lots of choice. Only one bike was from the web as the discount was silly and brought a £1200 bike WELL below the £1000 limit (plus not all participants IMHO have the skills to build a bike from a flatpack).
For bikes costing nearly £10k RRP we got nearly £1500 of discounts - our money !!! It also mean't the company was laying out less upfront in the first place. The admin is largely done inhouse anyway. You are really paying for the schemes to provide you with paperwork and issue bits of paper back and forth.
Its not worth it - go self administered.
And - 2009 prices jumped a lot from 2008. BUT 2010 prices are much higher again. Get it sorted quickly or each bike might cost an extra £150 each due to the Company messing around - pusing some bike outside the £1000 limit. There are still some 2009 bikes at better prices but stock is going. Thrust this message under the noses of those in charge - and apologise for my bluntness.
HOWEVER - the are better solutions !
All commercial schemes are just that - they are there to make money themselves. Hence when you get a voucher they charge the bike shop 10% to cash in that voucher. So for a £1,000 bike the shop only gets £900. Or put it another way - YOU are paying for that voucher, albeit saving VAT, PAYE and NIC. That £100 could buy you accessories or another £100 of bike.
It all depends on the Company you work for. Can you become 'scheme champion' and take a lead. The paperwork is available on the web and just needs tailoring in Word to make it fit you Company. I can guide you in if needed.
My approach was to contact 2 local shops, if you have access to independents, and agree terms. This is a minimum 10% discount. We bought 14 bikes. One shop got 2/3rds of the business so extended their discount to 12%. These shops had access to Spec, Giant, Trek, Cube, Gary Fisher, Diamonback, etc plus electric bikes - so lots of choice. Only one bike was from the web as the discount was silly and brought a £1200 bike WELL below the £1000 limit (plus not all participants IMHO have the skills to build a bike from a flatpack).
For bikes costing nearly £10k RRP we got nearly £1500 of discounts - our money !!! It also mean't the company was laying out less upfront in the first place. The admin is largely done inhouse anyway. You are really paying for the schemes to provide you with paperwork and issue bits of paper back and forth.
Its not worth it - go self administered.
And - 2009 prices jumped a lot from 2008. BUT 2010 prices are much higher again. Get it sorted quickly or each bike might cost an extra £150 each due to the Company messing around - pusing some bike outside the £1000 limit. There are still some 2009 bikes at better prices but stock is going. Thrust this message under the noses of those in charge - and apologise for my bluntness.
cyclesheme is a rip off - as said above - they are a middle man 'twixt employer and bike shop taking a cut, basically.
The shop i work for will happily help an employer setup a bike to work transaction, for free. As should any other decent, knowledgable independent bike shop in your area.
There is anot a huge amount of admin, its as much as paying for the bike initally, then adding in the relevant tax codes and setting up the repayments for the employee.
The employer also SAVES money on reduced tax and NI contributions for you.
Classicmercs is bang on.
Out of interest - where in the coutnry is the OP based?
The shop i work for will happily help an employer setup a bike to work transaction, for free. As should any other decent, knowledgable independent bike shop in your area.
There is anot a huge amount of admin, its as much as paying for the bike initally, then adding in the relevant tax codes and setting up the repayments for the employee.
The employer also SAVES money on reduced tax and NI contributions for you.
Classicmercs is bang on.
Out of interest - where in the coutnry is the OP based?
ClassicMercs said:
All cycle schemes cost the company nothing to run - they do however need the cash upfront
Last time I checked, cash aint for free* - and there's the rub.Your employer can elect to let you off the cost of VAT and the scheme by definition allows you, the employee, to spread the cost over the 'rental' period, but the company pays for the bike now, which dependingh on your employer and how they're faring in the current climate, may not be popular.
*It was spackers who beleive this that helped us into this crunch with their £499 a month PCP RS4s and stuff.
Edited by Digga on Tuesday 25th August 15:14
@ Digga - gotcha :-) However, we keep being told how cash rich we are as a company at the moment - so we'll see.
It's all a matter of the finer points of detail - if it costs the company fair enough as it falls into the class of a "benefit" - on a purely selfish point of view I'm motivated by getting a grand's worth of hardware for around £600
It's all a matter of the finer points of detail - if it costs the company fair enough as it falls into the class of a "benefit" - on a purely selfish point of view I'm motivated by getting a grand's worth of hardware for around £600
bleesh said:
@ Digga - gotcha :-) However, we keep being told how cash rich we are as a company at the moment - so we'll see.
It's all a matter of the finer points of detail - if it costs the company fair enough as it falls into the class of a "benefit" - on a purely selfish point of view I'm motivated by getting a grand's worth of hardware for around £600
FWIW, IIRC the grand limit is only relevant if your firm does not have a Consumer Credit Licence. If they do, fIt's all a matter of the finer points of detail - if it costs the company fair enough as it falls into the class of a "benefit" - on a purely selfish point of view I'm motivated by getting a grand's worth of hardware for around £600
k it! Treat yourself!
Availability of cash is the only problem.
I too am in a cash rich business. We get pennies back on the £1M in the bank and are constantly looking for a better safe return.
In fact the return on running a cycle scheme betters many of the offerings available through conventional investment !
I too am in a cash rich business. We get pennies back on the £1M in the bank and are constantly looking for a better safe return.
In fact the return on running a cycle scheme betters many of the offerings available through conventional investment !
bleesh said:
Cheers people - boss said he'd say yea or nay by today.
Heard nothing but will push tomorrow.
Give him a little more time. He's probably mired in the Cyclescheme minutiae. It's not a very employer freindly initiative, because there are some questions which arise, that are not covered anywhere on the site....Heard nothing but will push tomorrow.
Yet another example of legislation penned by someone with no clue how real business works.
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