Almost two years on, the ramifications of that infamous and controversial partnership between British Cycling and multinational oil and gas giant Shell are still continuing, as it has been revealed that UK Sport, the government agency overlooking Olympic and Paralympic funding, sent a letter to British Cycling warning them about “legal and reputational risk” after “considerable concerns” were raised by its board members.

The letter, revealed through a freedom of information request and seen by Private Eye Magazine, was addressed to former CEO of British Cycling Brian Facer just days before the eight-year partnership until the end of 2030 was made public in October 2022.

In the letter, UK Sport claimed that the partnership with Shell “potentially exposes UK Sport, the National Lottery and British Cycling to legal and reputational risk”. It also revealed that UK Sport held an extraordinary board meeting to discuss the partnership, in which members expressed “considerable concern about both the nature and structure” of Shell’s sponsorship.

The letter clarified that British Cycling’s partnership with Shell put pressure on UK Sport — a substantial stakeholder in British Cycling providing more than £10 million in funding — “to consider the implications of such partnerships” on the distribution of public money from sources such as the National Lottery.

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At the moment of announcing the deal, British Cycling, the national governing body for cycling sport in the UK, claimed that the partnership “will see a shared commitment to supporting Great Britain’s cyclists and para-cyclists through the sharing of world-class innovation and expertise,” as well as “helping more – and wider groups of – people to ride, including ways to make cycling more accessible for disabled people.”

However, the backlash to the news was severe, with cyclists accusing British Cycling of facilitating ‘greenwashing’ with hundreds of comments from members slamming the organisation for the move.

British Cycling barrier sign at road race
British Cycling barrier sign at road race (Image Credit: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
(Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

A fortnight later, then CEO Brian Facer, who had claimed the Shell partnership would help British Cycling meet its net zero targets, announced that he’d be stepping down from his post, with Jon Dutton being appointed to the role in April 2023.

In October last year, it was reported that British Cycling was seeing “declining membership, lower than forecast sponsorship and rights fee income growth, and increasing cost pressure”, which forced it to make 11 of its 250 employees redundant.

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In May this year, British Cycling claimed that it was aiming to achieve net zero by 2035 and halve its carbon emissions by 2030, as part of the national governing body’s first environmental sustainability strategy – a document published just weeks after “hacked” billboards were placed across the country accusing British Cycling of “fast tracking the apocalypse” thanks to its partnership with oil and gas giant Shell.

However, the governing body, which in the same month agreed a lead sponsorship deal with Lloyds Bank, said that its hugely controversial partnership with Shell is “helping accelerate” its journey to net zero and enabling the uptake of more low and zero-carbon forms of transport.