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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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One in three responds to Big Bike Revival to use bike for one in two journeys previously taken by car

Posted on in Business News, Cycles News

Cycling UK says that its Big Bike Revival programme, which encourages people to get unused bikes out of their garages and sheds and start using them for everyday trips, has led to a third of those it has encouraged to cycle more cutting their car journeys by half.

Big Bike logo

According to the charity, four in ten adults throughout the UK own a bike – but only 12% ride a bicycle once a month or more.

It says that in the year to March 2022, its initiative has encouraged more than 80,000 people to either start cycling, or to get back on their bike.

And in a follow-up survey conducted by Cycling UK after three months, 36 per cent of respondents said that they were now using two wheels for trips that they had previously undertaken by car.

The charity says that initiatives such as the Big Bike Revival “are essential to achieving government targets across the UK,” including “doubling cycling journeys in England by 2025, reducing car journeys by 20% in Scotland by 2030, significantly reducing car journeys in Wales by 2040 and for 20% of journeys under one mile to be cycled in Northern Ireland by 2025.”

Sarah Mitchell, CEO of Cycling UK, said: “These dramatic results show the difference it can make when we support people to cycle as a form of transport rather than a sport.

“The programme’s track record of getting people out of cars and onto a bike is a clear sign that people are willing to cycle when it is introduced to them in the right way. I’m especially pleased that the Big Bike Revival has reached people who don’t usually cycle, like women and people from minority ethnic groups.

“The Big Bike Revival is a blueprint of how to get more people in the UK cycling, particularly in harder to reach areas. This is vital as the need for cycling - a cheap and accessible form of transport - will only grow as the cost-of-living crisis deepens,” she added.

Jesse Norman, Minister at the Department for Transport, which has funded the initiative to the tune of £2 million, added: “It’s great news that this programme has transformed travel habits and given thousands of people the confidence to switch to cycling.

“The government has committed £600 million since the start of the pandemic to accelerate the use of active travel. It is a great way to get fit, save money and keep the planet green,” he added.

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