"The bike industry has never experienced anything like this before. Last weekend was sensational," says a delighted Flyer CEO Kurt Schär. Last Saturday, over 8,000 people took the opportunity to look behind the scenes at Flyer and visit the new company headquarters. On Sunday, during the SlowUp Emmental, there were an additional 10,000 visitors - including Federal Councillor Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, who spontaneously mingled with the participants after the opening of the car-free experience day and visited the new Flyer headquarters in Huttwil.

Green house in a black shell
Flyer had its new home in Huttwil tailored to its own needs and ecological requirements. The building is designed so that private individuals and tour groups can visit the company at any time. In August alone, before the official opening, Flyer already counted 20 groups visiting during one week; in total, around 1000 interested parties are expected to visit the company each month. The building has been consistently designed to be as sustainable as possible. The dark fabric shell is not just a visual feature, but also helps to regulate the climate in the building. Heating via a geothermal sun, solar panels for hot water and a sophisticated ventilation system also help to keep energy consumption as low as possible. Rainwater is collected in a cistern and then used to flush toilets throughout the building and for the bicycle washing system. According to Flyer, this allows drinking water consumption to be reduced by around 60 percent.

Compensating energy consumption through sponsorship
The photovoltaic system on the roof with an output of 70kWp would be enough to supply 15 to 20 single-family homes with electricity or allow a Flyer to ride 8 to 10 million kilometers. With climate sponsorship, Flyer riders will in future be able to participate in feeding the amount of electricity consumed by their electric bike into the general power grid in an environmentally friendly way via this system.

Four-day celebration for partners and the public
In addition to the new Flyer headquarters, the electric bike manufacturer offered visitors an attractive supporting program. 80 construction and tourism partners presented their services developed for and together with Flyer. The Harlekin circus set up its tents in Huttwil especially for the opening. Visitors were able to enjoy three extra performances at reduced admission prices. On Saturday, a new hot-air balloon was christened, which will ride over Switzerland as a Flyer ambassador in future. Flyer had already celebrated the move with its 85 employees on Thursday and on Friday there was an opening event for partners from the cycling industry and tourism as well as an official presentation for the media.

Expansion already in planning
Although Flyer has only just moved in, it is already running out of space in the new building. The fact that Flyer had the foresight to secure an extension directly behind the building is now paying off sooner than expected. "The plans for a logistics extension are currently being drawn up so that a decision can be made at the end of the year about its realization," announces Schär with cautious optimism. Even if Flyer is still keeping the ball low, the next expansion stage should already be secured if the demand for electric bikes continues to grow at the expected rate.