Bournemouth hotel staff given access to free Beryl bikes

Hotel staff working on the East and West Cliffs can commute free on Beryl bikes and scooters thanks to Bournemouth Coastal BID.

Funding made available from the ‘business improvement district’ will help recruitment and take more vehicles off the road.

A partnership between the Coastal BID and the UK’s leading micromobility company, Beryl, means hotel managers will be provided with codes that staff can use to access the green transport.

The initiative is designed to help hotels recruit staff, which has been difficult since the pandemic began and will become harder during the summer when tourism spikes.

Fiona McArthur from the Coastal BID said: “Hospitality has been horribly hit by the pandemic and staff have left the industry.

“There is also a widespread candidate shortage in the sector and we don’t want businesses to be operating with a skeleton staff.

“Tourism is vital to the local economy and when people visit we want to ensure they have the best time possible so they will return.

“If hotels are understaffed guests won’t have the same experience and hard won reputations are easily lost.

“Our partnership with Beryl aims to incentivise people to consider hotel work by giving them free transport.

“By doing so we are also taking combustion engines off the roads, which reduces congestion and pollution.”

Beryl CEO, Phil Ellis, said: “We want to inspire more people to take up sustainable travel options to help reduce road congestion and improve air quality.

“Partnership schemes such as this can hopefully inspire even more people to incorporate active travel into their daily routines.

“As well as being sustainable, cycling is also fun and a great way to exercise and keep healthy; so hopefully this will act as a good incentive for people to consider employment in tourism and help a fantastic industry get back on its feet.”

Tourism in Bournemouth is estimated to be worth more than half a billion pounds and it supports many thousands of jobs across the conurbation.