Transport for Greater Manchester has signed its biggest ever commercial deal, with Starling Bank as the first sponsor of the Northern city's bike hire scheme.
The cycle hire fleet will adopt a new name, Starling Bank Bikes, with bikes bearing the new branding set to hit the streets of Manchester, Trafford and Salford from February.
Starling Bank, which already employs 3,200 people in London, Cardiff and Southampton, recently chose Manchester as the home for its northern expansion owing to the city’s pool of fintech talent, and its status as the UK’s Top Digital Tech City. The digital bank’s new office in St Peter’s Square will house more than 1,000 new roles in the North.
The bike hire scheme has gained 72,000 active users since launching in November 2021 under the Bee Network branding, with more than 1.5million kilometres collectively ridden so far. Money generated from Starling’s sponsorship will be reinvested into the scheme, supporting ongoing operational costs, such as bike and stand maintenance and future expansion.
Susanna Yallop, chief people officer at Starling Bank says: “There was no question that Manchester would be home to our next phase of growth; we’ve hired some incredible talent here and have ambitious plans for further job creation. We look forward to seeing how our investment in Starling Bank Bikes will boost the breadth of the cycle scheme, and Starling’s presence in the North.”
The sponsorship will see the bike fleet and stands adopting a new look over the coming months. The bikes will retain the Bee Network yellow as part of the design, with the new joint scheme Starling Bank Bikes logo to be added to the bike’s frame, back wheel fender and stands. The bike hire app will also get a makeover, with a new version due to go live at the end of February.
Commercial terms of the sponsorship have not been disclosed.