Coca-Cola Or Santander To Replace Barclays As London Bike Sponsor

[R K]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/11382205/Coca-Cola-and-Santander-in-the-running-to-become-new-Boris-Bike-sponsors.html

Wheels across the capital are set to get a flash of red, with the Mayor of London poised to announce that Coca-Cola or Santander will be the new sponsor of the “Boris bike” cycle hire scheme.

The two-way race has emerged after Jaguar Land Rover swerved out of the bidding after making it onto a shortlist of three parties.

Sources close to the situation said the car maker decided it did not want to pay the £40m asking price for the contract.

It leaves Santander vying with Coca-Cola to take over from Barclays as the sponsor of more than 10,000 hire cycles around inner London. Whichever bidder wins it would be expected to replace the signature Barclays blue livery with its own red branding.

It is understood that a decision will be announced this month. Sources say bidders that did not make the final cut included Google.

On the basis that most "sports" sponsors end up in financial difficulty, doesnt bode well for one of them.

Not sure what is "British" about either Coke or Santander but both seem appropriate for a corrupt tax haven

[Sandwiches33]

4K per bike? wtf? its those london economics again?

[TheCountOfNowhere]

Instead of a barclays cycle now, will people have to have a Barclay's run instead ?

[winkie]

[Northerner]

Neat ...

Bike paths in abandoned tube tunnels: is the London Underline serious?

Could the answer to London’s congestion be a network of subterranean cycleways? A new project from design firm Gensler suggests that maybe – just maybe – it might. Dubbed the London Underline, the project would turn London’s abandoned tube tunnels into living streets beneath the city. While there’s still a speculative, utopian look to the proposals – renderings showing the tunnels packed with youthful Londoners resemble an updated version of Logan’s Run – the London Underline is being taken seriously enough in some quarters. Earlier this week, it won the Best Conceptual Project gong at the London Planning awards.

The project would use dual tunnels in the Underground’s defunct stretches to create parallel pedestrian paths and cycle ways, also lined with cafes and click-and-collect points for online shopping. To help make the tunnels more financially viable, each path could be surfaced with kinetic paving, which uses footfall and the friction created by bike tyres to generate electricity. The tunnels would not need to be connected directly to ground level. They would be accessed via tube stations, while Boris bikes for hire would lurk at the mouth of each stretch.

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/feb/05/bike-paths-abandoned-tube-tunnels-london-underline

[R K]

http://news.sky.com/story/1422008/santander-banks-on-50m-boris-bike-ride

Santander UK is close to sealing a £50m long-term deal to back London's pioneering cycle-sharing scheme.

Sky News understands that the bank, whose prominent sponsorship agreements include the golfer Rory McIlroy and Jessica Ennis-Hill, the Olympic gold medal-winning heptathlete, is on the verge of seeing off competition from Coca-Cola, the soft drinks giant.

A deal could be announced by Transport for London (TfL), the operator of the scheme, as soon as next week, insiders said on Thursday, although a formal contract has yet to be signed.

A source said that if completed, Santander UK would pay up to £7.5m annually for seven years to put its red-and-white branding on more than 10,000 bikes across the capital.

Nicknamed 'Boris Bikes' after the London Mayor, Boris Johnson, the scheme's new partner would replace Barclays, which has been involved since it was set up in 2010.

Coca-Cola and Santander UK have been fighting a two-way battle for the deal in recent days.

Bad news for Santander UK

[R K]

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/27/london-boris-bikes-painted-red-santander-sponsorship-deal