DELIVERING SOLUTIONS
RESPONDING TO TRANSPORT, HEALTH PROMOTION
AND SUSTAINABILITY TARGETS
Hourbike addresses the needs of local councils and organisations
alike by providing bike share solutions across different environments. From automated bike share schemes in cities
such as CityBike in Liverpool to a small fleet of bikes available to residents in a care home such as Anchor Homes in Southampton. Hourbike will always provide intelligent, tailored solutions to
its clients.
ELECTRIC BIKES PAVE THE WAY
Working with the latest technology to provide the hardware,
software, online facilities and data, Hourbike are at the forefront
of bike share development in the UK. The Company was the first automated bike share scheme to incorporate both conventional bicycles and electric bicycles from shared docks within its Oxford scheme, Oxonbike. Electric bikes continue to play a key role in Hourbike’s current and future schemes across the UK.
AS TECHNOLOGY EVOLVES AT SPEED, SO DOES THE GLOBAL NEED FOR SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT OPTIONS
Hourbike has deployed and operated many schemes and clients right across the UK and beyond, from Dumfries in Scotland, to Dublin Airport in Ireland and Gibraltar. Solutions are always
focused on functionality, value for money and style, offering research driven, flexible and bespoke bike share packages.
The company, established over 15 years ago, is run and owned by
Tim Caswell, Managing Director. Hourbike was born from Tim’s work and expertise within Vipre, a leading travel planning consultancy in the UK. Working with companies such as BAA and GSK, it became apparent that there was a growing need for automated bike share schemes to solve real and growing environmental, health and transport concerns.
Hourbike now has a team of employees, up and down the country offering services within bike share from strategic planning, branding and marketing, installation and maintenance, to customer service provisions and IT support.
The benefits of bike sharing are being felt worldwide, and as technology advances alongside it, the future of bike share is on track to grow substantially over the coming years.
OUR NETWORK
PRODUCTS & SERVICES
ADVERTISING & SPONSORSHIP
Hourbike is a fully UK owned bikeshare operator. From supplying bikes only, to implementing
a fully serviced, citywide and automated bike share network, Hourbike can assist.
CLICK ON EACH SCHEME TO FIND OUT MORE AND HOW TO REGISTER
TECHNOLOGY
Since 2007 Hourbike has also been the exclusive UK agent for Homeport technology, one of the earliest developers of bike share systems in the EU. Under continuous development to utilise the latest technologies, our hardware and software has been developed to provide an impressive customer experience and unparalleled value for money.
See our latest technology factsheets.
RESEARCH & PLANNING
Hourbike is often brought in to new cycle plans at a strategic level to ensure the delivered scheme is not only networked for optimal usage but also that it has a focus on current travel behaviour, behaviour change targets and local cultures. Hourbike works with local councils and organisations, regulators and investors to provide thorough, considered bike share networks.
BRANDING AND MARKETING
Hourbike’s creative department can work with the client to produce a scheme’s identity, through to online and printed materials including year-round marketing strategy to ensure maximum take up and exposure. Click here for examples of our work.
THE BIKES
We provide comfortable, robust and easy-to-use bikes that have been designed and built for bike share. All aspects of the cycle experience have been considered to ensure the best customer experience, with excellent customer feedback. From easily adjustable saddle heights, to hidden chains that avoid oil on clothes, to a secure bag facility and three gear system, the bikes are attractive and fit for purpose. Upon purchase, the client is able to specify desired bike colour schemes and branding.
Electric bikes (also known as e-bikes) are available as a compliment to conventional hire bikes or in some cases, an alternative. These bikes have been specifically designed for 24-hour outdoor, rental conditions, an environment which is very different to standard retail
e-bikes. As such, usability, comfort, reliability and robustness combined with a stylish look have been
key design criteria. The e-bikes benefit from all the attributes of our traditional hire bikes with the addition of 240W German made electric motor and built-in GPS modem to provide tracking capability and additional security. For full details, click here to view our bike and ebike factsheets.
CUSTOMER SERVICE PROVISIONS
Hourbike’s customer contact centre is UK based and
has many years experience in supporting a wide range of customers using the bikes for commuting, leisure
and utility use. This knowledge base enables us to provide a high quality service through all channels
of communication to both our members and the
local authorities.
FLEXIBLE BUSINESS MODELS
At Hourbike we pride ourselves in our consideration
of local business needs. The long term financial sustainability of bike sharing operations requires income from a range of sources, including the exploitation of the on-street assets and customer interactions through sponsorship. As more and more bike share schemes are installed across the UK, the value of these networks becomes increasingly apparent to their stakeholders, in terms of generating income from a variety of sources. Contact us here if you have an interest in this area, we would love to talk to you.
YOUR BRAND OR ORGANISATION ACROSS TOWN
IN SO MANY DIFFERENT FORMATS
Local sponsorship of services that truly benefit entire communities will always be looked upon positively from a wide variety of audiences.
Research shows that 88% of consumers said they were more likely
to buy from a company that supports and engages in activities to
improve society.*
*Source: - Better Business Journey, UK Small Business Consortium
That same research also revealed the following
rewards to a business:
• Increases customer retention
• Develops and enhances relationships with customers,
suppliers and networks
• Attracts, retains and maintains a happy workforce
• Differentiates yourself from your competitors
• Generates innovation
• Improves your business reputation and standing
• Generates positive publicity and media opportunities
due to media interest in ethical business activities
The chance to align your brand with a bike hire scheme that benefits:
• community life • the local environment
• public health • transport links
Bike hire schemes are perceived as
• fun • cost effective
• practical • healthyﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠ
See your brand across towns and cities
in a variety of high profile media
Your business as a sponsor will have access to unique usage data regarding bike journeys, lengths of time of journeys and times of days in order for you to target your message and grow customers.
HOW CAN WE HELP?
WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU
Please contact us via the form here on the right to find out more about Hourbike and its services.
GENERAL ENQUIRIES +44(0) 203 633 9259
NETWORK ENQUIRIES
If you would like help with a particular live bike scheme,
please use one of the specific local numbers below:
BRIGHTON BTN BIKESHARE +44(0) 1273 978 096
LINCOLN HIREBIKE +44(0) 1522 370 143
LIVERPOOL CITYBIKE +44(0) 151 233 3002
NOTTINGHAM CITYCARD CYCLES +44(0) 115 832 0264
SOUTHPORT BIKE HIRE +44(0) 1704 340 025
BRIGHTON
BTN BikeShare is rapidly becoming one of the most successful operations in the UK, with very high usage levels using smart bicycles and a blend of both fixed docking hubs and off-hub locking where necessary. There are currently 450 bikes across Brighton
& Hove achieving up to 4 rentals
per bike per day.
JOIN THE SCHEME
ON BIKES
