Case Studies

Client FreeFlow Global

Timescale October 2011 - ongoing

Intro There’s no doubt that the Scottish government would like to promote cycling more, but recent budget cuts means there’s less money around to support positive schemes like this one. FreeFlow Global has developed a business model based wholly on advertising, sponsorship and user fees, so the implementation of a cycle hire scheme facilitated by them could cost the taxpayer nothing.

ObjectiveOur aim is to get a cycle hire scheme, using SALTIRE e-bikes and managed by FreeFlow, trialed in a Scottish city.

Strategy Invicta has been helping get the SALTIRE e-bike’s technology out of the workshop and the laboratory, and out in front of some of the decision makers in Scotland’s cities. We first assessed the political landscape; what cycling schemes had each city investigated in the past? How do cycle hire schemes work elsewhere in the world? What is the government’s attitude to these sorts of projects? The success of a cycle hire scheme in Scotland will be dependent on a synergy between local councils and the Scottish Government, so it was important to ensure that the team at FreeFlow were speaking to the right people from the very start. We assisted in making approaches to key figures in each local authority and at a Scottish Ministerial level.

Results The responses so far have been positive. Councils are very interested in FreeFlow’s new technology and impressed that their business model delivers a cycle hire scheme at one third of the price of London’s Barclay Bikes. FreeFlow is a market leader in new, green cycling technologies. They have developed the world’s lightest, greenest electrical bike – the SALTIRE e-bike – using cutting-edge, innovative design. We are confident that Neil’s bike and FreeFlow’s cycle hire scheme will find its way onto the streets of a Scottish city near you very soon.

What the client says... “Invicta’s help has been invaluable. They have access to contacts that I could have previously only dreamt about. The team is proactive and has really made things happen for us.” Neil MacMartin, CEO, FreeFlow Global