Rothschild, the 200-year-old investment bank, backs Cycle Superhighways...

Rothschild is a British multinational bank with operations in 40 countries. Founded in the City of London in 1811, it is the world’s 31st oldest bank. Among many other things, they provide mergers and acquisition consultancy, asset management and venture capital.

Executive Vice-Chairman Simon Linnett sent TfL this letter yesterday:

Rothschild is a leading provider of financial services based in the City of London. We have been based in London for over 200 years.

Like many businesses in London, a growing number of our 800 employees cycle to work. An even larger proportion of our team would cycle to the office if they felt comfortable and safe on the roads.

We value their safety and we want to promote active lifestyles for all our employees. We support their freedom to choose how they get to work. We also note strong evidence that more cycling increases spending in local retail businesses and lowers air pollution levels.

The proposed north–south and east–west routes will help us attract and retain the employees our business needs to continue to thrive. They will also make London a more attractive city in which to build and run our business.

Kind regards,

Simon Linnett

Executive Vice Chairman

Editorial Comment:

The above letter, sent to TfL will not go down well with the Taxi trade who see the Mayors proposed Cycle Super Highway's segregate lanes, as just another nail in our coffin.

Yesterday afternoon the traffic was almost at a standstill along Grosvenor Road, while both cycle lanes, taking up a large percentage of the highway, were empty. As cars sat there, choking in their own emissions, there wasn't a cyclist in sight. 

Although Nat Rothschild has always stated, he has nothing to do with the everyday running of the bank, he is presently courting the trade with his revolutionary new Taxi app Maxxi. This letter may well be seen by many as a Ratner Moment.

    Source: Cycling Works