Support Received: Croydon Enterprise Loan Fund
Location: Croydon, London
Website: active-commuting.com
Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & Instagram
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Andrew Rechten was in the middle of changing jobs when inspiration struck. The result, Andrew no longer job hunts but runs his own business.
We caught up with Andrew to find out how his story began.
When looking to changes jobs, Andrew noticed of two prospective employers one could not provide any form of cycle storage and another had a 14 month waiting list. It quickly became apparent that there were many people in Andrew’s situation and when he looked further into the issue, the hurdles for providing static commuting solutions were considerable.
So, Andrew founded Active Commuting, who design and build specific turnkey solutions for secure bike parking, showers and lockers to encourage eco-friendly commuting.
Landlords would only provide start-up companies short-term leases, refurbishment and dilapidation costs were high and the space required was expensive and hard to acquire. All of this meant that a large capital investment would be required with no guarantee of a return.
Andrew realised that any solution to the problem would need to be portable and as a result, Andrew and his brother Paul, who is an architect, sought to design a modular facility and source a manufacturer to turn their idea into a reality.
It was at this stage the company were approached Cycling Weekly, who featured Active Commuting in their publication which led to numerous enquiries from companies who wanted to provide these facilities for their staff.