British cargo bike delivery company Zedify is hosting a recruitment event in collaboration with sustainable transport company Loud Mobility to encourage more women to join the workplace.
The event, which will take place at Zedify Hoxton depot in London on 26 September, will be a series of interactive bike workshops and personal safety learning sessions for women to learn the basic mechanics of a cargo bike and how to ride with confidence.
The aim of the event is to encourage women in the UK to consider a career in cargo bike courier work – currently only 19% of logistics workers and 26% of transport workers are women.
“This event is one of the first big steps towards empowering more women in riding roles,” Zedify brand manager Rebecca Young told Zag Daily. “It’s good to say we need to have gender balance on our team, but we know this is a hard problem to solve and words alone aren’t enough. We believe a proactive and bold approach is needed to achieve real change.”
“We hope to garner 10 trial bookings from the event, but most importantly, it will encourage women to listen, generate positive momentum in logistics and cycling, and get more talented women on the bike for a better future in urban delivery.”
The event is open to everyone and will feature talks from Zedify’s Manchester-based assistant manager Brittany Edgen, who started her career as a rider; Georgia Yexley and Caz Connellar of Loud Mobility; and Jada Heselton, co-founder of bike repair company Fettle.
Zedify data shows that gender-balanced delivery teams perform better and are more satisfied with their jobs, and surveys show staff would like to work in more gender-balanced teams.
A McKinsey study found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on their executive teams are 21% more likely to achieve above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile.
“Women are underrepresented in both transport and logistics – there are often few strong role models and women don’t see it as a job for them,” says Caz Connellar, community and culture director at Loud Mobility. “When it comes to cargo bike riding roles, this is further complicated by safety barriers to women getting on a bike and limited understanding and experience of how to ride a cargo bike in the UK.”
“We hope that our partnership with Zedify will allow more women to try out cargo bikes in a safe and supportive environment, receive training and learn about career opportunities in this exciting and fast-growing sector. And the more women we have in these roles, the more role models we will have to inspire others and address the gender gap.”
“This event is open to everyone, so if you are interested in a career in cargo bike logistics, please apply and come along on the day.”
