In a recent survey of rapidly-expanding smaller companies sponsored by Lloyds Bank, Deloitte and UBS, two of the top four burgeoning enterprises had an encouraging sporting focus.

According to the survey, profits at Go Outdoors, an outdoor equipment retailer employing almost 500 people, rose by an astonishing 114% over the last 12 months, placing it at number two in this encouragingly entrepreneurial listing.

The company, which now has 28 UK stores, has benefited from the public’s desire to embrace healthier lifestyles and, as the debilitating effects of the credit crunch continue to wash over most of us, from our willingness to embark on less expensive pursuits.

Little wonder that two of the company’s best-selling lines are camping and cycling equipment.

At number four in the list is a rather better-known name, Evans Cycles, founded in 1921, which last year boosted annual profits by a healthy 103%.

Evans’ success is, ironically, largely attributable to the economic downturn which has resulted in a sizable number of people considering cheaper forms of transport. While other industries were contracting, the company opened four new stores last year, increasing its total to 36.

While two of the driving forces behind an increase in the number of cyclists are an understandable desire to pursue a healthier way of life while saving money, cycling’s booming popularity, at amateur and professional levels, is another contributory factor.

Immediately following the Beijing Olympics, UK Sport surveyed 2,000 members of the public and concluded that cycling had made an enormous impression, joining athletics and swimming as our most popular Olympic sports.

The manner of the cyclists’ success and the public’s empathy with star performers such as Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton was hugely important in persuading several million Britons to follow suit and get on two wheels.

With more than £50 million in taxes and Lottery funding pledged to the sport during the build up to 2012, cycling is expected to deliver again at next year’s Olympics.

Perhaps more significantly, the post-Beijing survey found that one in five people intended turning their pride into action by changing their sporting behaviour by taking up or watching new sports. The big winner was (and remains) cycling.

In fact, Britain’s ongoing cycling boom has resulted in a shortage of most forms of bikes – from the folding ‘Bromptons’ beloved by business types for cycling around town, to sportier road bikes occupied by lycra-clad Mark Cavendish wannabes.

Though retailers on most British high streets struggle to survive, demand for bicycles has almost tripled over the past 12 months, despite some noticeable price hikes.

Cycling enthusiasts and recently-converted two-wheeled commuters are fuelling the surge, as more people embrace pedal power instead of tackling traffic.

Firms such as Evans and Halfords have benefited enormously from the government’s Cycle to Work scheme. Both organisations are part of the Cycle to Work Alliance, a body which has enabled more than 400,000 people to acquire a new bike.