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Small Business Strategy Inquiry 2025 - ACT and Bira call for members to share their voice

20 Jun 2025

The House of Commons Business and Trade Committee has asked the ACT, and its parent company Bira, to help them reach out to small business retailers across the country, for their quick input on... Read more…

Beyond the discount: Restoring integrity to the cycle supply chain

18 Jun 2025

The Association of Cycle Traders believes the time has come for greater accountability throughout our supply chain, writes ACT Director Jonathan Harrison in an article published for BikeBiz.
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Bira welcomes Wales' business rates proposals but calls for key improvements

11 Jun 2025

Bira has welcomed the Welsh Government's consultation on business rate reforms for retail shops, whilst calling for significant improvements to ensure the proposals truly support high street... Read more…

New awards launch to champion Britain's independent high street heroes

9 Jun 2025

Retailers on Britain's high streets are being encouraged to put themselves forward for the first-ever Love Your High Street Awards, designed to celebrate the small businesses that bring... Read more…

"Tectonic shift" in employment law threatens independent retailer viability, warns Bira podcast

6 Jun 2025

Independent retailers are facing a "generational" transformation of employment law that could fundamentally change how small businesses operate, according to the final episode of Bira's first... Read more…

Retailers hope warm weather and bank holidays will boost high street sales

16 May 2025

ACT parent company Bira has said that members are hopeful the warm weather, Easter weekend and upcoming bank holidays will provide a much-needed boost to high street sales.
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Economic growth surges to 0.7%, but "April reality check" looms for high street retailers

15 May 2025

UK economy delivers strongest quarterly performance in a year despite forecasts of business downturn.
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Communities come together for Local Bike Shop Day 2025 celebrations

13 May 2025

Local Bike Shop Day 2025 brought a wave of... Read more…

ACT parent company Bira welcomes Bank of England's latest interest rate cut

8 May 2025

ACT parent company Bira has welcomed the Bank of England's decision to reduce interest rates from 4.5% to 4.25%, calling it a "much-needed boost" for the retail sector, including for cycling... Read more…

ACT parent company Bira responds to Beales' "Rachel Reeves Closing Down Sale" as iconic store makes final protest

8 May 2025

ACT parent company Bira has responded to the news that the 144-year-old Beales department store is staging a "Rachel Reeves Closing Down Sale" in its final weeks of trading, with giant yellow... Read more…

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Female employment hit hard as online shopping grows

Posted on in Business News, Cycles News

Retail An ongoing increase of high street shop closures across the UK means that female employment contuniues to decline.

According to a recent study undertaken by the Royal Society For the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, about 75,000 jobs as sales assistants or checkout operators previously taken by women have gone between 2011 to 2018, and 33,000 jobs were lost by men. However, the study showed that male employment has remained steady due to an increase in jobs in warehouses and as delivery drivers.

Rowan Conway, RSA director of innovation explained the reasoning for this "The traditional female skills of caring, welcoming and being customer service driven are lost when you are behind the wall of a logistics company or an Amazon warehouse."

Research undertaken by the Resolution Foundation shows that these job losses are part of an ongoing problem whereby female employee jobs in the retail industry has fallen from 16% in 1996 to 11% in 2018.

Sophie Walker, chief executive of the Young Women's Trust which supports under-30s, said "The government has tied itself in knots to respond to charges that technology is decimating men's jobs, its response to this latest assessment is pitiful in comparison to the millions set aside to prevent closures of car factories and other male-dominated industries." 

This news is unsurprising as another report investigating the retail industry showed that a fifth of UK retail spending is now carried out online and this being predicted to double in the coming years. However, previous reports have not shown how unevenly this is affecting the UK in terms of not only gender, but also area. The RSA found that the biggest job losses in sales and customer service occupations came in the East Midlands, the North East and in the East of England. Meanwhile, there was a 16% increase in the number of retail jobs in London between 2011 and 2018.

It is vital that we continue to support our local independent stores in order to help our communities and local economies and prevent job losses. Initiatives such as the Best Small Shops competition help to champion independent retailers and promote them across the UK. The Best Small Shops competition is now closed for entries but stay up to date with the Indie Retail Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages for when the shortlisted 25 shops are announced in October!

 

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