‘An old solution to a new problem’ – how Nottingham businesses are paving the way for eco-friendly deliveries

A partnership between two Nottingham businesses is paving the way for eco-friendly deliveries across the city.

Philip Trease, Director of family wine merchants Weavers and John Faye, founder of Veload, have joined forces to provide the people of Nottingham with high-quality wines at a low cost to the environment.

John set up cargo bike courier service Veload in a bid to “decarbonise the last mile in Nottingham”.

He approached Philip, of Weavers last year after taking the plunge to turn his idea into a business during the first lockdown.

“I was furloughed for eight months and facing that amount of time on my hands, it was an opportunity to try my idea out”, John said.

Speaking from the wine cellar at Weavers, in Castle Gate, John explained how it is now “paying off”, and the business now has the first council-funded bike in the UK.

John said: “I was previously working in the urban mobility industry and that’s how the idea came about.

“It’s about showing business it is possible to do it by bike and there are people there ready and excited to do it for them.

“There are images of the Royal Mail delivering on cargo bikes in Victorian times – this is an old solution to a new problem.”

John added that Raleigh currently supply the cargo bikes for Veload.

He said: “We have a great relationship with them, with them being a Nottingham brand too which is nice. They’ve been fantastic to deal with.”

Philip thought the partnership was a “great opportunity to support a local independent business”.

He said he found John’s passion “inspiring” and has even taken up cycling to work himself.

Philip said: “The traffic restrictions in Nottingham make it harder and harder to make deliveries.

“We use our vans to deliver and national couriers across the country, whereas John can drop things off almost same day if customers can’t get to us.

“People like the pedal power and the eco last mile. We now use Veload two or three times a week for local deliveries into The Park, Bridgford, Mapperley and further afield.

“It’s a great opportunity for both of us. We’re raising the eco-footprint and supporting a local business.”

Philip added that the situation will change when people are back in offices across Nottingham.

He said: “It will get interesting when people are not working from home.

“I can see various collection hubs around the city coming forward. The only winners I see from this pandemic are the supermarkets and Amazon.

“The council have got to reach out to small businesses who will fund them in the future when the city is up and running again.”

Philip says empty car parks and streets should be used for click and collect spaces for small businesses.

“I had a customer last week who got a ticket and it isn’t a welcoming message to Nottingham city.

“It’s going to put businesses off, why spend time coming to Nottingham and pay £7 for a couple of hours parking?

“You’re not going to take 12 bottles of wine home on the tram or the bus.”

Veload now has three riders and works with a number of businesses across the city.

John added that there are “definitely” plans for more drivers to expand into Nottingham and deliver to more postcodes.

His riders are paid the Living Wage and John was determined to distance himself from the ‘gig economy’ used by the likes of Deliveroo.

“The last thing we want to do is make our riders rush to make their money,” John said.

He added that customers they deliver to enjoy the appeal of having deliveries by bike.

He added: “People like the novelty of it. There were a lot of congestion issues before the pandemic so it will be interesting to see what happens with traffic when stuff becomes more normal.

“I think relying on cars as a mode of transport is not the best.

“I hope this encourages people to buy from local businesses as they can get thing conveniently without harming the environment.”