Cheltenham Cycles reports best year’s trading

Cycle retailers in Cheltenham are reporting steady or rising sales, with Cheltenham Cycles recording its best ever year’s trading, as reported on This is Gloucestershire.

Cheltenham Cycles’ Ben Davies said: “Business is absolutely fantastic. Last Thursday and Friday trade mimicked what we’d usually see on a Saturday.

"With the recession we are seeing that people simply cannot afford to run two or three cars. People come in wanting a bike to cycle to work, and then decide they will also use it at weekends."

Williams Cycles manager Andrew Williams told the site that sales were steady, despite tough economic conditions. He said: "We were expecting trade to drop because of the financial climate but that hasn’t been the case. We’ve remained steady and the good weather has also helped us with people coming in."

Williams added that the cycle to work tax exemption initiative was helping buoy sales: "Employees are really seeing the benefit of these schemes now. We see groups of friends where one has joined a scheme and now they’re all signing up.

"There is a great sense of achievement as you travel quite far in comparison to walking. And it can be exciting; you get a great thrill as you pick up speed travelling downhill," he added.