The queues were “absolutely crazy”, says Gavin Hudson, the owner of the cycle repair startup Butternut Bikes. As lockdown descended he began fixing old bikes in the parking lot of a Methodist church in north London, before moving his services to a furloughed pub in Crouch End. However, the surge in demand for cycle repairs meant the pop-up was soon able to afford a permanent address.
“Some people come in and tell us they haven’t been on a bike in 10 years,” Hudson says. “They are dragging all kinds of bikes, covered in cobwebs, out from the shed to get back on the roads. It’s great. I think it’s really true that there are few problems in society today that can’t be made better by getting people walking and cycling more.”
From dusted-off bikes to electric dreams: UK green economy booms on back of Covid-19 | The Guardian
Pandemic accelerates developments in sustainability from businesses and consumers; Jillian Ambrose, Mon 6 Jul 2020