McDonald’s had own bike scheme

McDonald’s Restaurants ran a bikes programme in May and June 2007 in response to staff feedback. Its ‘On your bike’ scheme, which was not part of the government-sponsored bikes-for-work scheme, enabled staff to buy a range of bikes and accessories at discounts of up to 60%.

The restaurant chain has 70,000 employees, 60% of them under 21 years old. It decided to create its own scheme because under-18s cannot access the government scheme without a guarantor’s signature, and the scheme must be made available to all employees.

Neal Blackshire, benefits and compensation manager at McDonald’s, says: “We would have had to exclude our under-18s, which was enough of a barrier for employees to say this is not a top priority right now.”

The restaurant chain also had to solve the problem of a lack of storage facilities for bikes at its premises.

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