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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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Almost 50 shops in the UK closed for good every day in 2022 – 65% of them independents

Posted on in Business News, Cycles News

Almost 50 shops in the UK closed for good every day in 2022 - more than at any other time in the last five years – according to a new report from the Centre for Retail Research.

Shops closingMore than 17,000 sites - 65% of them independents - closed with the total number of closures nearly 50% higher than in 2021. Consequently, the number of retail jobs lost, in stores and online, also rose as businesses closed or sought to cut costs.

As the economy continued to reopen in 2022 post-pandemic, the retail sector faced a barrage of challenges with prices rising sharply and shoppers cutting back their spending. Costs for retailers also rose, with steep increases in energy and wage bills.

The CRR, an independent research body which provides analysis of retail sector trends, said shops were closing at a rate of 47 per day in 2022. Over the course of the year, large retail chains closed 6,055 shops while 11,090 shops were closed by independents.

However, only around a third of closures were due to insolvencies, according to the CRR.

The number of stores closing because a parent chain with more than 10 stores went under, actually fell, the CRR said. Closures in that category were 56% lower in 2022 than in 2021, but included some high-profile names, including M&Co, Joules, McColls, Sofa Workshop and TM Lewin.

Nearly a third of the closures were branches of chains which were closing some of their sites to save money and rationalise the business. Some, such as Marks and Spencer, simultaneously opened new branches in different locations.

More than a third of closures were independent shops which decided to wind up their business, also classed as rationalisation.

"Rather than company failure, rationalisation now seems to be the main driver for closures as retailers continue to reduce their cost base at pace," said CRR director Joshua Bamfield.

He expected the trend to continue in 2023, he said, although "a few big hitters may well fail too".

From April, retailers will receive temporary support from the government with business rates, the tax charged according to the value of the firm's properties. That will be in the form of a 75% discount on business rates up to a limit of £110,000 per business.

Shops standing vacant are exempt from rates altogether for three months. After that, however, they are subject to the full rate charge, and are not eligible for the 75% discount.

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