Velocity teams up with Oxford traders to offer zero carbon ‘Buy by Bike’ delivery for shoppers

Business News

By Nicky Godding

17 November 2022

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Oxford based cycle courier business Velocity is working with local traders to offer a zero-carbon delivery service for customers shopping locally.

Shoppers can buy from a range of Oxford businesses either in person, or online and have their purchases delivered by Velocity’s fleet of e-cargo bikes, trikes and electric vans.

The ‘Buy by Bike’ service offers home delivery or gift delivery, within the ring road from an ever expanding list of local traders including Hoyles of Oxford, Truck Records, Good Sixty, So Sustainable, Blacklands Veg Boxes, Share - the Library of Things, Nong Smitinand, Fairtrade at St Michaels, Jericho Coffee Traders, Missing Bean as well as food delivery including Skogen Bakery, Happy Cakes, Waste2Taste and Vegan Punjabi.

Velocity launched in March 2022 by Will Pepper and Jake Swinhoe and is now a team in double figures and growing. Jake said: “Oxford is famous for cycling and what better place, than one of the UKs most committed cities to sustainability, to move away from fossil-fuelled vehicles and replace them with an option with a vastly reduced carbon footprint.

“Oxford can be a nightmare in a car, and for local traders delivering from one end of the city to the other, bikes are the perfect option for speed, and to help reduce traffic on our already clogged roads. There are so many amazing smaller independent traders in Oxford, and we are aiming to make home delivery easier for them, and their customers. Shoppers can get their stuff quickly and easily and know that delivery is zero carbon too.”

Many shoppers want to be more sustainable in their choices, with the majority of consumers now committed to shopping locally and considering sustainability when making a purchase.

Velocity’s fleet is made up of Urban Arrow e-cargo bikes, backed up with Iceni trikes and supplemented by Maxus 100 per cent electric vans. Since its launch earlier in 2022 Velocity has become the go-to option for local businesses seeking to improve their logistics while also lowering their carbon footprint.

Velocity also works with other local traders delivering to their clients including Yellow Submarine, SESI, Hamblin Bread, Kall Kwik printers, Oxwash, Dark Horse Roastery, Proof Bakery, Maria Bonita Cakes, Grape Minds and has worked with local festivals Wood Festival and Treehouse Festival.

Velocity has bases at Osney Mead and Magdalen Road and is planning a move to larger premises as it continues to grow and support new delivery projects with small and large businesses in the county.

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.