With so many people working from home, bringing colleagues together in person is more difficult but more important than ever. In 2023, Southern eBike Rentals hosted numerous teams looking to build and improve relationships, delivering great days out for corporates and other organisations.
It’s well known that getting out of meeting rooms and into the great outdoors is a great way to facilitate more open and productive conversations. E-bikes are an amazing tool for building relationships, giving people a common interest and levelling the playing field to enable people of different fitness levels to participate on equal terms.
Every event we host is tailored based on the needs of the client. Sometimes we design the whole event based on a brief, while on other occasions we supply electric bikes to the event organizer. If you have an idea you’d like to discuss, we would be happy to discuss it with you. Here are three completely different team events that delighted our clients.
Case Study 1: South Downs ride to Hambledon Vineyard
Type: Corporate day out / bonding
Theme: South Downs ride to award-winning vineyard for wine tasting and lunch
Client: Investment Management Company, London EC4
Participants: 35
Location/Route: Petersfield to Hambledon Vineyard, on and off road
Distance covered: 22 miles
Bikes supplied: Normal and electric, mountain and touring
Planning: Southern eBike Rentals in conjunction with client’s HR department
Delivery: SeBR and British Cycling qualified MTB Leaders
35 participants in 4 groups were led by British Cycling qualified MTB Leaders. Most rode eMTBs (electric Mountain Bikes) but some chose to ride normal “acoustic” mountain bikes while less confident riders rode electric touring bikes on quiet country lanes.
The day was planned with the client’s HR team, and we worked closely with them on all aspects of the day. Routes and a vineyard were chosen and team members’ capability and heights taken into account when planning groups and bike selection. Risk assessments and waivers were completed in advance to enable a prompt start. A support vehicle with spare bikes was provided (but not needed) for technical problems or incidents.
The group was greeted at Petersfield train station where the advanced group's bikes were delivered and they rode to Queen Elizabeth Country Park to tackle some challenging mountain bike trails. The others took a short coach ride to SeBR’s base at the park and started on more relaxed routes, some on road, some off-road, heading for the bucolic Meon Springs where the whole team reconvened.
After a break for coffee and cake, everyone remounted and resumed their ride to Hambledon. On arrival, participants exchanged their bike for a refreshing and well-earned glass of English sparkling wine before lunch, while the SeBR team whisked all the bikes back to base.
Case Study 2: Epic celebration ride from the North of Scotland to the South of England
Type: Company celebration
Theme: 15-day tour of notable sites from the Scottish Highlands to Kent
Client: Repic – electrical waste recyling company
Participants: 19 including directors, employees and clients
Location/Route: Alness, Scotland to Sittingbourne, Kent
Distance covered: 850 miles
Bikes supplied: Electric touring bikes
Planning: Southern eBike Rentals supported Pie Events
Delivery: Pie Events
Repic planned an epic ride covering almost the length of the country, to celebrate an important milestone in the company’s history. The ride was led by Pie Events and involved a changing roster of riders each day.
The bike of choice for the ride was the Whyte e506 – the ideal choice being comfortable, reliable and powerful. SeBR supplied six bikes to Pie Events’ base in Kingston.
Given the changing roster of riders, it was important to plan the allocation of bikes meticulously to ensure that appropriate sizes were available each day based on riders of differing heights. We were able to work out how to ensure almost every bike was used every day so that no more than 6 were needed. This was important to stick to the client’s budget but also because the support vehicle did not have space to transport more. Without a team member on the ride, we also delivered simple written guidance on use of the bikes to Pie Events and the participants to ensure a successful and safe outcome.
The ride was blessed with good weather and finished successfully on 15th June. You can read more about Repic’s epic ride here.
Case Study 3: A last minute corporate training day in Berkshire
Type: Team development
Theme: Off-site training day
Client: Agency creating inspiring adventures
Participants: 11
Location: The Retreat at Elcot Park, Berkshire
Bikes supplied: Electric mountain bikes
Planning: Southern eBike Rentals supported the Agency
Delivery: Agency
The most notable aspect of this event was its last-minute nature. At the end of October, the Met Office issued warnings about Storm Ciaran and the weather enforced a change of plans for this team development day just 2 days later.
Having taken the call on the Tuesday afternoon, we were able to save the day by delivering 11 electric mountain bikes, clearly marked with participants names, less than 48 hours later and taking them away (with a fair amount of Berkshire’s finest mud) just a few hours later.
“We reached out to Southern eBike Rentals with a very last minute request for bikes for our corporate event. Despite the short lead time and the challenging British weather, the team sourced the bikes we needed and delivered them to our location promptly.”