Young couple make cycle hire easy for South Lakes visitors

Ollie Colman and Amy Hunt are only 21-years-old, but the Windermere based pair have used their business nous to fill a niche in the market.

Lake District Bike Hire offers cycle hire delivery, meaning that when you hire the bike it comes directly to your door.

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Ollie, who has lived in Windermere since he was six-years-old, said that the service makes life '10 times easier' for those visiting the area and believes that they are the only ones in the South Lakes offering something like it.

"I think people come to the Lakes to see the outdoors and get out and go up the mountains and around the lakes," he said. "You get a lot further on a bike than you do walking."

Having met at The Lakes School when they were 11-years-old, the couple have been together for almost four years and set up the business just over a month ago after having spent time together travelling.

Whereas Amy, along with Ollie's mum, deal more with the paperwork side of the business, Ollie is a keen cyclist and attends to bike maintenance.

For Ollie, the decision to become a business owner was a significant career move, as he was originally on his way towards a career as a professional footballer.

"I played football full-time for Bolton," Ollie said. "But I had knee reconstructions so had to leave football which was a shame."

However, despite the unexpected job change, Ollie said that the pair have had a steady start and as the weather is getting better, the number of bookings are increasing.

To help matters, the couple have also secured a partnership with Lakes Cottage Holidays and are in meetings with other agencies.

Although Lake District Bike Hire currently only offers a fleet of 20 mountain bikes, they will be looking into road and electric bikes if the demand is there for them.

"[Electric bikes are] really popular at the moment," Ollie said. "It means if there’s a family with a Grandma, she could do a ride that she could never do on a standard bike."