“Vending paramedics”

Why Britvic prefers two wheels to four!

Commuting is a daily grind for most of us. It doesn’t matter whether you use your own car or public transport; you can safely predict most days you’ll get stuck in traffic. It’s one reason why motorcycles are proving more popular; their use has more than doubled in the last ten years. Ride to Work Day 2003 on 16th July proved again that they’re faster, cheaper and more practical than four wheels in urban areas.

But riding to work is one thing (commuting, after all, accounts for two thirds of all motorcycle journeys) but how about using bikes for work?  How feasible is it to use bikes, for instance, in the vending sector?  Extremely, it would seem. When fast response times and stringent servicing agreements have to be honoured, the motorcycle is emerging as a sure-fire winner.

Leading soft drinks manufacturer, Britvic, is a perfect example of a leading edge firm that provide bikes, rather than cars, for its technical staff in central London. Colin Aitken needs no persuasion that two wheels are better than four when time is money. He has calculated that his journey into London can take up to two hours compared to just over 45 minutes on his bike. “If you work that out on the basis of twice per day, five days a week, you get some idea of the scale of the savings. It can mean the difference between doing four service calls or seven,” he points out.

Surely, eyebrows are raised when he arrives for client appointments on his motorcycle?  Apparently, not, according to Colin:

“I’ve been to meetings at prestige hotels and visited top design companies, and construction firms and I’ve never received negative comments about arriving on a bike. In fact, Britvic is usually congratulated on being innovative and tackling problems positively!” It’s true that most workplaces are relaxed about dress code.