Santander leading £50m Boris Bike sponsorship race
Santander UK is the frontrunner to succeed Barclays as sponsor of the ‘Boris Bike’ cycle scheme in London, according to reports.
Citing Transport for London (TfL) insiders, Sky News reported that Santander would pay up to £7.5m annually for seven years to put its branding on more than 10,000 bikes across London.
Coca-Cola – which is sponsor of the London Eye – is also in the running but an announcement of Santander’s win is expected to be made as early as next week, although a contract is yet to be signed.
Graeme Craig, TfL's director of commercial development, said the process was at the final stages and a new sponsor would be revealed in due course.
Barclays has been sponsor of the cycle scheme since it launched in 2010. It announced it would step down in December 2013 despite having originally agreed to sponsor until 2018.