The Electric Cycle Company is planning to move to a 4,000 square foot, carbon neutral premises in Edinburgh after a surge in business following coronavirus.

Neill Hope, managing director of the company, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to renovate the building into a new store and workshop, which he claims will be the biggest e-bike shop in the UK.  

Following year on year growth in the last 10 years, the Edinburgh company plans to move to Crewe Road North, four times the size of their current retail space and workshop on Granton Road.

Building work on the electric bike store is set to get under way next week and will take an estimated six weeks to complete.

The new shop is scheduled to open in early September.

READ MORE: Scottish e-bike retailer reports soaring sales

It is also claimed the new store will be one of the first carbon-neutral bike shops in the UK.

The renovation plans include solar panels on the roof and battery banks for lighting and bike charging. Heating will be provided by a biomass boiler powered by the waste packaging the business creates.

The ECC is  the crowdfunder today to raise the £70,000 for the renovation of the shop and workshop.

Mr Hope said: "We’ve always been the largest e-bike specialist in Scotland, continuously at the forefront of the industry.

"My dad started the Electric Cycle Company in 2006. I took over 10 years ago and moved it into proper retail premises on Granton Road.

"Since then we have seen our turnover increase year on year, by as much as 500% over this period.  Our staff numbers have increased from two to 10 and we now have the widest range of electric bikes in Scotland.

"This is something I could never have imagined when my family started the business from the back of my dad's office, as an offshoot from his plastering company. We also have the added benefit of being backed by the north Edinburgh community."

Sales of electric bikes at the company increased by at least 80% during lockdown compared to the same period in 2019.