Key takeaways:
- Handyman Station is the first handyman company in London to use cargo bikes for all their operations. Vok e-cargo bikes are ideal for transporting heavy equipment and construction materials on-site all over London as quickly and efficiently as possible.
- London is the slowest city on the planet to drive a car. It’s also expensive, and finding a parking spot is a nightmare. With Vok, the handymen can arrive on time, faster than a van, and park at the doorstep or use small gaps between parked cars.
- Using a Vok e-cargo bike offers countless advantages in London. There are no parking or congestion charges, it’s carbon and emission-free, can handle any weather, has a big cargo space, and is narrow enough to fit cycle lanes and other tight spaces. Not to mention, riding them is healthy and fun.
Company: Handyman Station, the go-to property care provider in London
Based in East Sheen, London, Handyman Station aims to be the local one-call service for all home improvement needs. They offer all maintenance and repair works imaginable, from plumbing and heating to furniture assembly, hanging pictures, or even gardening. Founded in 2020, the company has completed over 1000 jobs to date.
“In little over two years, we’ve grown from a guy with a laptop, a mobile phone, and a tool bag to an office and a brand people can trust. We want to make property care as simple, efficient, and stress-free as possible. And it seems we’ve succeeded, with hundreds of happy customers to show for it. It’s been an absolute pleasure,” says Handyman Station’s Founder and Managing Director Jeremy Lewis-Phillips.
Challenge: navigating London weather and traffic in full gear
London is notorious for its rainy weather, but as a lesser-known fact, it’s also deemed the slowest city on the planet. Yet, Handyman Station needed to transport heavy equipment and construction materials on site all over London as quickly and efficiently as possible.
- In 2022, London’s rush hour was the slowest moving in the world, according to the TomTom Traffic Index. The average speed of cars in the city centre during peak hours was just 14 kph (around 9 mph). When traffic moves this slowly, travel times are over 40 minutes for a typical 10 km (6 mi mile) trip across the city centre.
- Driving a car in London is also expensive. In central London, cars, motorcycles, vans, and specialist vehicles entering the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) must pay a daily charge of £12.50.
- Parking in London is not easy or cheap, especially if you need to get as close as possible to the customer’s doorstep.
- The handymen and the equipment also need to be sheltered from all elements like rain and snow to blistering heat waves.
Solution: The first handyman company in London using e-cargo bikes
Handyman Station always strives to innovate and be the leader in their field. They believe in being prepared and investing in the right equipment to do their job as best as they can. For example, they use custom-built equipment units to spend as little time as possible on finding the right tools and responding to the wide range of jobs they get. From the start, they also started looking into alternative modes of transport to be as fast and reliable as possible in responding to their orders.
“We started testing e-cargo bikes believing and hoping we would be able to get around town more efficiently, arrive on time, and have fewer parking issues. But we also had our hesitations, mainly about whether we could carry or fit all our tools and materials, how many miles we could cover, and the old favourite: What if it rains?” describes Jeremy.
Today, Handyman Station is the first handyman company in London to use cargo bikes. Their fleet consists of a regular front-loading e-cargo bike, a four-wheeler Vok Standard e-cargo bike with 420 l cargo volume and 150 kg payload, and a Vok XL with extra large cargo space (up to 2 m³ and 200 kg).
Results: “We go to places where others can’t”
Jeremy says that after using Vok bikes, they’re never looking back: “The experience and the joy of riding e-cargo bikes exceeded all our expectations. With a big cargo capacity and up to 200 kg in load, there is not much these nimble bikes can’t do. From transporting heavy tools and boxes to soil and plants for gardening. We even put up 108 British flags for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 only using an e-cargo bike. But best of all, they offer a fun, accessible, and people-friendly alternative with children and adults waving as we cycle by!”
E-cargo bikes offer countless advantages in London:
- faster response times;
- no ULEZ or parking charges;
- carbon and emission-free;
- a happier and healthier team;
- arrives quicker than a van, and no time is wasted in traffic jams or on finding parking;
- riding them is just fun!
The Vok e-cargo bike is especially suitable for a local handyman business:
- big cargo space and load capacity to carry all the necessary equipment;
- gets around and protects the rider in any weather, even snow;
- 90 cm width fits cycle lanes and small and tight spaces
Jeremy is convinced that e-cargo bikes are the go-to solution for tackling London traffic: “With cargo bikes, we go to places where others can’t,” says Jeremy.
“We can literally park at the doorstep or use small gaps between parked cars. We can save time and money on parking and other expenses normally passed on to the customers. Our unique cargo bikes have made us one of the most recognizable handyman companies in London, are emission-free, keep our handymen fit, and are able to carry very similar loads to traditional vans. We can only see the upsides. I’m certain we’ll have more and more companies moving to e-cargo bikes in upcoming years.”
Jeremy Lewis-Phillips, the Founder & Managing Director of Handyman Station
