There has never been a better time for companies to add bikes and scooters onto their vehicle fleet or incorporate them into their business...

An economic survey carried out for the MCI found that motorcycle support services, that includes leasing, publishing, insurance, couriers and training contributes £940 million in Gross Added Value to the UK economy. (1)

The medical profession is a field that has seen the many financial and social benefits of using bikes. The 'blood runners' who offer their services free of charge to the National Health Service have carried out 16,000 runs since their inception , saving lives across the UK. Providing an all -year round service they typically respond to around 2,000 calls per year saving the Health Service on average £300,000.  

The hire and leasing sector has an important role to play  as analysis suggests that this sub-sector has an annual turnover of around £38 million, just over half of which is estimated to be GVA (£20 million).

The motorcycle hire sector comprises the hire and lease of motorcycles for business or recreational purposes.  The lease and contract hire sector provides motorcycle rentals for business use and fleet lease management services.  Motorcycle leases are popular with many businesses as the rental is tax deductible and provides employees with a mode of transport that is cheap to run, is less affected by congestion and can avoid congestion charges.

The motorcycle courier industry has an annual turnover of  almost £800 million with added value of over half of that at £480 million providing employment for 20,000 people.  It is also estimated to provide a tax contribution of almost £200 million.

Motorcycle couriers provide a valuable service transporting items that require urgent, safe or discreet delivery.  They typically provide a same-day delivery service, or even quicker for source and destination locations within the same city.

There are currently around 100,000 people involved in courier work in the UK, 20,000 of which are estimated to be motorcycle couriers .  Motorcycle couriers are concentrated around heavily congested urban areas, where motorcycles offer customers a rapid and low cost courier solution relative to other modes of transport. 

Steve Kenward, the MCI's CEO commented, " Economic and practical factors mean that including a bike into modern business is a sensible option. As businesses have an increasing need to move items and people around quickly and safely a bike or scooter makes sense. Services such as motorcycle taxis in cities have lots of potential and organizations dealing with emergencies would benefit from deploying motorcycles. People from plumbers to the emergency services are seeing the value of motorcycles and we expect this to grow in the coming years."