[Closed] is it easy to set up a cycle to work scheme in a small business??

Yes, I didn't bother in the end as it was more trouble than it was worth. The accountant wasn't exactly enamoured with the whole thing either.

Not particular hard to setup but they must offer it to all staff not just you which can make it more time consuming. They don't need a consumer credit licence if less than £1000 over 12 months but they may not have the cash flow to stump £15,000 if everyone wants to take advantage. You may get a better response near their year end if they have Annual Investment Allowance unused.
Alternatively some retailers such as Evans can administer the scheme on the employers behalf.

From what I can gather its a piece of piss.

I'm in the process of setting ours up at work.

See previous thread here for a bit more info

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/talk-to-me-about-cycle-to-work-scheme

I'm going to use the Wiggle stuff as templates for the credit agreements. With careful planning I reckon 35% savings are possible, and as we're a small business we can also get the benefit of shopping around and getting discounted deals so even more savings!

Easy to set up. No need for a credit licence as long as the value is below 1k. You don't loan the employees funds, you buy a bike and they rent it from the company. There are commercial schemes that will advise you exactly what you need to do, but using them may reduce what you can save.

I don't think the current government has made it any more complicated...

cheers for the advice guys.

It is pretty easy but some parts can be confusing.
Just make sure you set everything up in your name if you can which will speed up the process.
I administer my works scheme and only I use it. It means you can authorise everything instantly. From deciding to do the scheme again to getting my bike was about 4 days this year.

Andy

or the company could just buy you a bike, and then you ride it - no BIK 😉

robw1,

I've done it. It is easy. As others say you don't need a consumer credit license for sums less than £1k. There are templates on line you can adapt if you don;t want to use one of the established schemes.

There are cash flow implications for the company though. Although there is no need to offer the full £1k. I know of another company who invite expressions of interest from all staff (where they basically see how many people are interested and how much each wants to spend - they only accept applications once a year. They have around 50 staff and if they all wanted a £1k bike it would cause a problem. I think if there was an 'over subscription' their intent was (i) to eliminate people who had previously participated (according to how recently) and (ii) then if necessary have a ballot [although there was a debate about prioritising those on lower incomes or looking for the least money]. I don't know if that is technically within the rules but it seems a perfectly practical and sensible solution - which should appeal to anyone at HMRC who thinks its all a tax fiddle for the middle classes. I believe everyone who has ever asked (3 or 4 people a year) has got what they wanted through.

What the government have done is make it less attractive (in terms of financial saving) as a scheme overall. The employer still benefits from saving Employers NI on the salary sacrifice though.

Employers will generally want to run this at "no loss" to themselves, and to recover the purchase cost within 12 months. However it is worth noting if you had a particularly bike friendly employer that you could run it quite differently - where the employer genuinely subsidises the bike (e.g. buys a £500 bike, but employee only sacrafices 200 from salary, or even nothing! or over longer periods than the usual 12 months.