Sheffield bike shop offering free services and cycling essentials for all NHS staff

A team of 'two and a half' bike mechanics are keeping their 75-year-old shop open to help keep their community safely moving during the coronavirus crisis.

Henry Nottage, owner of Tony Butterworth Cycles on Catch Bar Lane, Middlewood, made the difficult decision to stay open after prime minister Boris Johnson announced a lockdown on the country last week.

Although bicycle shops are one of few allowed to remain open Henry said they did consider closing.

But it was encouraging comments from those including an emergency services worker who relied on their bike to get home from late shifts and someone who needed their bike as they came out of retirement to go back into nursing that made him decide to stay open.

They are also offering free bike services for all NHS staff and have teamed up with their suppliers to provide a free helmet, set of bike lights and high visibility jackets too.

Henry said:

He said they had a surge of customers when the government announced its latest restrictions and said people could go out for one exercise a day.

The team has put many measures in place to reduce the risk of spreading the virus such as limiting the number of customers in the shop to one at a time, cleaning each bike when it comes in and before it leaves as well as regularly disinfecting the card machine.

The shop has been open since 1945, which Henry and his team took over about five years ago.