Have you ever fancied taking a spin class at the top of The Shard at sunrise? How about spinning over the River Thames at Tower Bridge? Well now is your chance – courtesy of Santander Cycles. Today, Santander Cycles launched the inaugural “Spin Up” event at The Shard with the Highest Spinning Class in Europe.

As we enter the summer months, through a series of spinning classes, Santander Cycles is bringing an innovative way to encourage the public to experience something fresh and new at iconic locations across London’s skyline, whilst encouraging trials of the cycle hire scheme in their own time. In July and August, these spinning class experiences will be on the following dates:

Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 June - The Shard
Wednesday 20 July - Tower Bridge Glass Floor
Thursday 4 August - The Roof Gardens, Kensington

As well as these events, there will be ‘Spin Up’ classes at Transported by Design at the Regent Street Festival on 3 July and More London Festival at The Scoop (between London Bridge and Tower Bridge) from 17-20 August. To find out more, visit www.santandercycles.co.uk, where you can register to take part in these unique experiences.

Keith Moor, Chief Marketing Officer of Santander said: “Spin Up is about having fun on a Santander Cycle at the same time as seeing London in a different light. It gives everyone an opportunity to gain confidence and to familiarise themselves with the Cycles in a relaxed environment These spinning classes are a great example of the excitement we have brought to the scheme so far – giving people the chance to do things they simply could not experience in any other way.”

Paul Cowperthwaite, TfL’s General Manager of Santander Cycles, said: “It’s great to have unusual and fun ways of helping people become familiar with our cycle hire bikes and scheme, and the Spin Up classes mean you can get a bit of exercise in at the same time! Working with Santander is helping us to grow and develop the scheme, making it easier and more fun to hire a bike for commuting or leisure.”

Santander became partners in London’s cycle hire scheme in 2015 in a seven year deal that will see the scheme grow and develop, giving users a more accessible, rewarding and enjoyable experience. Santander is entering into its second year providing Londoners, commuters, leisure cyclists and city visitors the key to unlock all that the city has to offer

The Santander Cycles App, allows users to hire a Santander Cycles via their smartphone, view the nearest docking station and bike availability and keep track of their usage. The Mobile App is available for free and new features are being developed to make hiring a Santander Cycles easier than ever before.

Santander Cycles is the second-largest cycle hire scheme in Europe, with 11,500 bikes and 760 docking stations (and counting), and has been used more than 3.5 million times already this year – and more than 50 million times since launching in 2010 – making it a popular and affordable way to travel around London for work or leisure.

For more information and to check the dates of these events, visit www.santandercycles.co.uk (terms and conditions apply). For regular updates, follow @SantanderCycles on Twitter using #SantanderCycles.

To find your nearest Santander Cycles docking station, visit www.tfl.gov.uk/santandercycles.

Ends

Notes to editors:

  1. Entrants must be aged 18 or over and resident in the UK s. Spinning classes are open to UK residents’ aged 18 and over. Entrants do not have to be Santander customers. Transport costs to the events will not be covered. Participants will need to make their own way to these events. The places are strictly limited and are on a non-transferable basis. To book a class, you need to register at www.santandercycles.co.uk on the entry page. Once you’ve done this, you’ll then be contacted when the booking is live and you’ll be able to book on a first come, first served basis. On 20 June, at 9am, booking becomes available for Spin Up at The Shard, on 12 July booking becomes available for Spin Up at Tower Bridge and on 27 July booking becomes available for Spin Up at Kensington Roof Gardens.
  2. Transport for London (TfL) own and operate the Santander Cycles scheme. The bikes can be hired from as little as £2 a day for unlimited number of 30 minute journeys. Regular users can register for annual membership, which equates to 25p per day and get the same unlimited number of journeys under 30 minutes each without paying anything more. Further information about the scheme can be found at www.tfl.gov.uk/santandercycles.

Laura Bradley at Sidhu & Simon
M: +44 (0) 7568 428 369
T: +44 (0) 207 491 9909

Santander Press Office
T: +44 (0) 207 756 5952

Transport for London press office
T: 0845 604 4141

Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its 1|2|3 products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. As at 31 December 2015, Santander UK was one of the most switched to banks. The bank serves more than 14 million active customers with c. 20,000 employees and operates through 857 branches and 70 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.