Pedalpower

Pedal Power to the People

(Workers more than another spoke in the wheel)

Jonty Semper, Gary Crewe, Dan Harris and Jim Pettipher

An Oxford company that recycles unwanted bikes – offering affordable green transport solutions for the city – is giving ‘pedal power to the people’ by becoming a workers’ co-operative.

Under the new structure, the eleven full-time and part-time members of staff at the Cowley-based Oxford Cycle Workshop will become more than just another spoke in the wheel, receiving equal pay and an equal say in decisions that will help the business grow and make money.

And the move comes at a time of expansion following a buyout of the business by three staff members in 2007. New initiatives include the creation of a dedicated training arm of the company and a deal being struck to sell brand new, ethically-manufactured bikes made by Spanish co-operative Orbea.

Dan Harris, a founder member of the Oxford Cycle Workshop co-operative explained: “We’re a bike shop and workshop with an environmental and ethical conscience. We recycle bikes destined for landfill, refurbish them and sell them back to members of the public, providing an affordable green transport alternative for the city and drastically reducing waste in the county.

“As such we’re a business that attracts staff with passion and loyalty from as far afield as Scotland, Germany and the Czech Republic. Becoming a co-operative means that everyone’s skills are appreciated and that everyone has a stake in the success of the business.”

Whilst many of the bikes offered for sale have been left at the company’s facility at the Redbridge Recycling Centre, or donated at the shop in Magdalen Road, Oxford Cycle Workshop is about to become the city’s only outlet for Orbea bikes.

Boasting a catalogue of models as wide as its big-name rivals and having a reputation for build quality and performance, the Basque-based bike builder also happens to be a co-operative.

Gary Crewe, area sales representative for Orbea, said: “It’s probably the last of the big European bike manufacturers, as so many household names are actually built in Asia or the Far East. It’s also an ethical bike manufacturer, and its workers enjoy rights and excellent conditions. Orbea fits perfectly with the Oxford Cycle Workshop ethos.”

Meanwhile, the training arm of the company is being expanded, with the firm looking for suitable premises in the locality. Jonty Semper, who heads up the training division, said: “Currently we offer cycle maintenance workshops to members, guiding them through the basics of how to fix a puncture to sophisticated care and modification of their bikes.

“However, we’re going to expand this, working with groups of disadvanted people like young offenders, and bundling training courses with recognised qualifications like NVQs together with basic skills training in literacy, numeracy and IT. All the training will be provided at our new learning facility.”

Oxford Cycle Workshop has been guided through the process of becoming a workers’ co-operative by Co-operative Futures.

The agency, funded by Midcounties Co-operative, encourages and supports firms in adopting the co-operative model and join the 5,000 jointly-owned, democratically-controlled UK businesses which last year reported a combined turnover of £27.4 billion and sustained 240,000 jobs.

Jim Pettipher, development director of Co-operative Futures, said: “Oxford Cycle Workshop is much more than a local bike shop. Its recycling and training programmes and its organisation of cycling activites make it an integral part of the community.

“We’re really excited by the decision to stock Orbea’s co-operatively built bikes. The assumption that all bikes are green and ethical is wrong.

“Many are manufactured in countries with poor conditions for workers, they are shipped half way around the world and are not built to last, or even to be refurbished, creating a strain on the environment when they are scrapped.

“Orbea’s co-operative bikes are bult in Europe and in accord with the co-operative values of democracy, self-help, social & envirnomental responsibility and caring for the community.

“There's never been a better time to be part of a co-operative. As the world's stock markets falter, the values of co-opertative businesses - which are owned by workers rather than external share holders - have been largely unaffected by the financial crisis."

To find out more about Oxford Cycle Workshop and the services it provides, log on to www.oxfordcycleworkshop.org.uk. Anyone starting, running or growing a business that is interested in co-operative status can contact Jim Pettipher from Co-operative Futures on 0845 456 2506 or at jim.pettipher@co-operativefutures.coop

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