Estate agencies in London have just two days to sign up for a discounted business account with Santander Cycles – which used to be known as Boris Bikes.

This would give staff unlimited access to hire bikes for work and leisure.

Businesses can choose to buy keys for all their staff or provide a pool of them to be booked out using the provided online tool.

Until Friday companies have a 10% discount on each £90 key, which gives unlimited bike access for a year.

Keatons estate agents in Shoreditch uses the scheme. Manager Nick Verdi heads up the team who cover an area that stretches a mile in every direction.

He said: “Given that we’re so close to the City, getting around by car quickly can be hard. So using the bikes was the obvious thing to do.

“There’s the odd occasion where the car makes more sense, but more often than not it’s much easier to jump on a bike than it is to take the car and worry about parking.”

Each of the staff in the office has their own key and use them to get to viewings. But they are also free to use them in their own time for personal trips.

Holly Gregory, who joined Keatons three months ago, hadn’t cycled since she was a child.

She said: “If I can do it, anyone can do it. A lot of our clients actually use the bikes as well. The whole of London uses them.”

https://tfl.gov.uk/business-accounts