My place of work uses the Halford’s scheme, and they limit its provision to once a year in order to coincide with the financial year.

Are all schemes pretty much the same, with their own limitations, or is this one just particularly bad?

Both of my brothers have just bought themselves new bikes with the schemes offered by their workplaces, and they simply went to their respective finance departments to request c2w. Plus, both were able to shop pretty much wherever they wanted.

Is my workplace just being difficult? Or is the Halford’s scheme especially restrictive?

Is there a ‘best’ scheme out there?

Annual “cycles” are pretty common.

Many smaller retailers participate in the Halford scheme so you can get pretty much any bike you want.

As above it’s the employer dictating the timing, and many wee shops accept Hellfrauds vouchers, so it’s pretty good.

The best way to do it is without a scheme at all- I buy C2W bikes myself, then claim it back on expenses and pay the company back. Means I can shop where I like and buy reduced bikes without incurring any extra charges.