Bike hire firm dumps Manchester following thefts and vandalism
Bike hire firm Mobike has announced it is pulling out of Manchester after the scheme was plagued by theft and vandalism.
The move means that Manchester is the first city in the world to be dumped by the Chinese bike sharing firm.
Mobike warned a couple of weeks ago it was considering leaving Manchester due to the high levels of theft and vandalism.
And today it has confirmed it is pulling the plug on its operations in the city.
The company, which launched in the city 13 months ago, revealed in August that the loss of around 200 bikes every month was unsustainable.
Mobike is currently operating in 200 cities worldwide including London, Newcastle, Oxford and Cambridge.
Jan Van der Ven, general manager of Mobike UK, said: “We are very grateful to the City of Manchester to have been the first city in Europe to welcome Mobike.
“However, after careful evaluation, we have decided to remove our bikes and refund our users.
“As a private company, we have a duty to ensure our revenues cover our costs since unlike some operators we do not use taxpayer money to help balance our books.
“Unfortunately the circumstances in Manchester have not made this possible.”
He added: “I want to thank the people of Manchester, Transport for Greater Manchester, Greater Manchester Police and the City Council for all their support.
“We have all learnt valuable lessons that will help cities continue to make urban life more sustainable, more active and more healthy through cycling.”
A statement from Mobike on its website said: “We are already processing refunds to our users in Manchester, and advising people to check their bank statements. The refunds may take a day or two to arrive.
“Goodbyes are never easy, but we hope to see you again in London, Newcastle, Oxford and Cambridge, as well as across Europe in cities including Paris, Berlin, Madrid and Milan.
“We are sad to announce that we will be suspending our service in Manchester. Since bikes will no longer be available in the city, we are refunding deposits and wallet balances to our users in Manchester.”
Rival bike-sharing firm nextbike has said it will move into Manchester.
Julian Scriven, UK MD of the German firm, said Manchester needed a docked scheme rather than Mobike’s dockless approach.
He said: “Nobody would say that Manchester has more anti-social behaviour than, for example, Glasgow, where we have 500 bikes.
“It’s very unfair to tarnish Manchester like that. We don’t see that kind of thing happening in Glasgow.”
