Uber bringing e-bikes to Britain

UBER is planning to bring electric bikes to Britain as it seeks to expand beyond ride-hailing and fooddelivery services.

The US company’s Jump business, which lets users rent e-bikes and electric scooters via an app, is hiring a general manager for the UK. Uber bought Jump, known for its distinctive red bikes, in April, and has since expanded to 12 US cities and Berlin.

Uber is seeking to convince investors it can extend beyond its core ride-hailing business as it prepares to go public next year.

In October Jump launched electric scooters in Santa Monica in southern California. It is also considering plans to launch these in the UK, the job advert suggests, saying Uber is after somebody to “shape and lead our operations with electric bikes and scooters in the country”.

Electric scooters are not road-legal in Britain. Earlier this year, rival Bird launched a pilot scheme in London’s Olympic Park, on private land. London is already served by a public bicycle scheme sponsored by Santander, with bikes from Chinese start-ups Ofo and Mobike also available.