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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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US audiobook platform Libro.fm launches to indie bookshops in UK

Posted on in Business News

Independent bookshops in the UK can now sell audio books through Libro.fm. Launching in the last couple of weeks in the UK, the digital audio book platform, which already partners with independent bookshops in the US and Canada, is now available to indie bookshops in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

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Mark Pearson, Libro.fm co-founder and CEO., said: “We’re excited for booksellers to start using Libro.fm and gain confidence in the platform ahead of launch, and know they’ll look forward to sharing it with their customers."

Madison Mullen, product manager at Libro.fm, added: “In 2022, 29% of new visitors to our website were from outside the US, so we know that there are readers all around the world who are eager to support their local bookshops with their audiobook purchases. We have six years of experience working with 12,000+ booksellers across 2,100 bookshops in the US and Canada, and our highest priority is making sure that Libro.fm is an audiobook service that booksellers around the world will be proud to promote to their customers.”

Libro.fm is an employee-owned social purpose corporation founded in 2014, with a digital audiobook platform that works with 2,100+ bookshops to offer audiobooks and monthly audiobook memberships. The platform aims to enable bookshops to compete against Amazon’s Audible subscription model, offering 300,000 titles that can be redeemed through credits. Currently, more than 80% of Libro.fm partner bookshop revenue comes from monthly memberships, though customers can also purchase individual audiobooks.

Earlier this year, Bookshop.org, the online bookselling platform for independent bookshops, revealed it had completed a £1.5m fundraising round which would enable it to add audiobooks and e-books to its UK platform. The online retailer will also develop a mobile app for customers. Bookshop.org said the move would enable independent bookshops in the UK to offer audiobooks and e-books. It is planning to launch a private beta version of its service in late 2023, followed by a full launch in 2024.

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