Car club hits the road thanks to TSELF

Option C is an innovative North East car club which is really going places with the help of funding from The Social Enterprise Loan Fund (TSELF). Originally established in Durham, a £45,000 loan from TSELF is helping the business expand into Newcastle.

"Option C car club was set up as an alternative to people owning their own cars,” says founder and director Paul Balmont. “Also, as a way of providing pool cars to local businesses to help them reduce costs and staff car usage.”

Many of us need a car from time to time in our daily lives, but is it always necessary?
Paul explains that his thinking behind the scheme was to help break people’s car habit.

“Most people don’t think twice about using their car, even if it’s not really necessary. When you join a car club it makes you think more about whether you really need to use a car and the environmental implications of its use.”

Paul identified a gap in the market when he set up Option C in 2006, as there were no car clubs in the North East at that time. However, as for many start up businesses, access to funding is often hard to come by. Luckily one of the directors of Option C knew of TSELF and when Paul contacted them they were happy to help. Now, three years on, another loan from TSELF is allowing Option C to expand its operations in the Newcastle area.

“The support we received from TSELF was fundamental,” explains Paul. “Without it we would never have got the finance we needed to start up, let alone win a big contract in Newcastle.”

Option C and Newcastle City Council have recently joined forces to launch a city wide car club for Newcastle.

Option C members can access a car from a growing number of locations across Durham, Newcastle and Chester-le-Street. Cars can be booked for a minimum of half an hour and members ‘pay as they drive’. Anyone can join online or over the phone and cars can be booked with as little as one minute’s notice (subject to availability). There is no membership fee, only a one-off £25 joining fee, plus hourly rate and mileage fee per trip.

As a Community Interest Company, Option C’s profits are locked into the car club and its future. Also, they don’t have shareholders but are owned by the members of the club, who therefore have a direct say in how Option C develops.

Rod Jones, regional director of TSELF, says: “Option C provides a radical new alternative to the traditional concept of everyone owning their own car. A car club provides access to a vehicle when you need it, but also helps make people think more carefully about their car usage, which is good news for the environment. Option C is leading the way for car clubs in the North East and TSELF is delighted to be able to help them develop their ground-breaking solution.”

For more information about Option C, visit www.optionc.co.uk, call 0845 602 8030 or email info@optionc.co.uk.