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Local Bike Shop Week returns this May, with independent retailers reporting strong benefits from past events

19 Feb 2026

Local Bike Shop Week is approaching, with this year’s celebrations taking place from Sunday 3 May to Saturday 9 May 2026 - and retailers have highlighted the positive experiences they've... Read more…

Independent bike shops unite for inaugural Local Bike Shop Week celebration

17 Feb 2026

A week to celebrate and highlight the expertise and passion of independent bike shops across the UK is set to be held this May.
Read more…

ACT part of coalition letter calling for consultation on online VAT reform

16 Feb 2026

A 18-strong coalition of business organisations and tax experts, including the ACT and led-by its parent company Bira, has today written to the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury calling for a... Read more…

Government's pub-only business rates package is "poor decision based on politics", ACT parent company Bira says

29 Jan 2026

The government's decision to give pubs a 15% business rates discount while excluding independent retailers is a "poor decision based on politics rather than what is good for the local economy",... Read more…

Independent retailers demand equal treatment as Government prepares pub rates relief

9 Jan 2026

ACT parent company Bira has has demanded equal treatment for small shops after the government announced plans to water down business rate rises for pubs.
Read more…

Christmas and New Year message from ACT Director Jonathan Harrison

23 Dec 2025

An end of year message from Jonathan Harrison, Director of the ACT.
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Scottish Government urged to cut business rates for indie retailers

11 Dec 2025

ACT parent company Bira has called on the Scottish Government to follow Wales's example and introduce genuine business rates reductions for retail premises ahead of the Scottish Budget on 13... Read more…

Independent retailers to see rates bills soar by up to 15% despite government's "transformation" promises

2 Dec 2025

Independent retailers across the UK are facing business rates increases of up to 15% next year despite government promises of the "lowest tax rates since 1991", ACT parent company Bira has... Read more…

UK's E-Bike Positive campaign to be adopted by the BA & ACT

1 Dec 2025

As of Thursday 1st January 2026, the E-Bike Positive campaign will fall under the joint guardianship of the Bicycle Association (BA) and the Association of Cycle Traders (ACT).
Read more…

Cycle to work scheme escapes cap but ACT warns Budget fails cycle retailers on business rates and imports

26 Nov 2025

The ACT has welcomed the Government's decision not to impose a cap on the cycle to work scheme, calling it "common sense prevailing" after weeks of speculation threatened a vital sales tool for... Read more…

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Indie Retail Calendar 2020: February

Posted on in Business News

Creating online marketing strategies for your independent business can be often be a tricky and time-consuming business; how often do you post, what do you post about, and how do you make sure your post is seen by your target audience?

Planning ahead is always important in organising campaigns and timing them correctly. To help you in this, Indie Retail has created a 2020 calendar that features notable holidays, events and cultural days for the upcoming month. We hope that highlighting these significant days can give you a little bit of inspiration when planning your campaigns, and give you enough time to do so.

Be organised

Each month within the calendar contains a range of holidays, some well-known ones that you may celebrate every year, and some that you may not have thought about- National Chocolate Cake Day is certainly a favourite of ours!

Having all of these dates in one place allows you to more effectively plan your email, social media, and other online marketing campaigns

We recommend taking a look at the upcoming month when it is sent out in the Indie Retail newsletter and taking note of the days that you may deem to be relevant to your business. Planning out how you want to promote these days in advance will mean that you can start posting about it a few days before-hand, thus building more momentum to your fantastic promotion!

Be creative

When it comes to choosing which national days are relevant to your business some may be more obvious than others; National Doughnut Day would be ideal day for a bakery to run a promotion. However, some days may require more creativity. For example, a holiday such as Australia day may not initially seem relevant to your business, but a few ways to promote this could be:

  • Offering customers named "Steve" a freebie or discount
  • Organising a promotion on items you sell that are made in Australia
  • Donating a percentage of the day's sales towards a charity helping with the Australian wildfires
Using a hashtag when marketing your promotional efforts on social media will mean that your post is more likely to be seen by more people.

Be aware

Aside from using the calendar to base promotional ideas off of, it's also important to be aware of everything happening in a given month in order to fully optimise the timing of your campaigns.

Clashing a campaign with another significant day could lead to no one seeing your promotions or could even cause offence. For example, if a large online retailer was to announce a site-wide sale on the same day as National Independents Day it may cause offence to many customers and result in the promotion being unsuccessful.

Get planning!

 

Download the February eCommerce now! Be sure to tag Indie Retail in any promotions on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter that have been inspired by this calendar, we would love to see them!

Each Indie Retail calendar month will be sent out in the monthly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here.

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