SHELL UK AND BRITISH CYCLING AGREE EIGHT-YEAR OFFICIAL PARTNERSHIP

Shell UK Limited (Shell UK) and British Cycling signed an agreement in October 2022 making Shell UK an official partner of the national governing body, a partnership that will run until the end of 2030. 

The partnership has committed to supporting Great Britain’s cyclists and para-cyclists through the sharing of world-class innovation and expertise; accelerating British Cycling’s path to net zero; and helping more – and wider groups of – people to ride, including ways of making cycling more accessible for disabled people.

Over the first two years of the partnership, several innovative initiatives to help create measurable impact across all three foundational pillars of the partnership (People, Planet and Performance) have been delivered.

People

The launch and subsequent continued growth and success of the Limitless programme, which is fully funded by Shell UK, has broken-down barriers to participation and helped to address inequalities in cycling. Since its launch in 2023, the programme has engaged over 3,500 disabled people inside 18 months, with the initial target over four years standing at 5,000.

Collaboratively, through the programme we are creating a nationwide network of sustainably inclusive opportunities, where disabled people can feel supported, welcomed and included in cycling. The investment in the disability sport programme is unique in the UK sporting landscape.

Planet

With business travel being the second largest contributor to British Cycling’s carbon footprint, Shell UK has and continues to support British Cycling to significantly reduce our carbon emissions across both land and air. This is through the use of Shell fuel cards, which have a built-in carbon offsetting programme against the fuel used within the British Cycling fleet and through Avelia, Shell Aviation’s book and claim solution for sustainable aviation fuel. This is also helping to reduce emissions from Great Britain Cycling Team (GBCT) air travel.

Shell UK has also recently committed to supporting British Cycling’s new initiative, Accelerate - a sustainable events fund designed to support our volunteers in taking action to reduce the environmental footprint of cycling events across the country and to help engage communities on collective action.

Performance

The development by Shell UK of a bespoke bike chain lubricant was first used by GBCT at the UCI World Championships in 2023 and subsequently at the recent Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris.

Both Shell UK and British Cycling continue to work closely to innovate and develop further meaningful initiatives that will deliver against the shared objectives and commitments of the partnership.