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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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Investment in convenience sector hits record high of £1bn

Posted on in Business News

Over the last year, convenience retailers have spent a combined £1bn (up from £646m in the previous 12 months) refitting their stores, installing new energy efficient refrigeration and lighting, and detecting and preventing crime.

Store

The findings come from the 2024 Local Shop Report, published by the Association of Convenience Stores. The investment figure is the highest on record since the report’s inception in 2012.

Key headlines from this year’s report include:

  • 71% of the 50,387 stores in the convenience sector are run by independent retailers (either unaffiliated or as part of a symbol group)
  • More than half of independent retailers (56%) fund investment from their own reserves
  • Convenience stores provide local, flexible and secure employment for around 445,000 people
  • More than one in six convenience stores (17%) now has a self-service till, up from just 3% in 2019
  • Almost half of independent retailers (47%) offer some form of home delivery/click and collect service
  • 80% of independent retailers were actively involved in their community over the last year

Speaking on the launch of the report, Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman said: “The convenience sector continues to demonstrate its importance to the UK economy at both a local and national level, as a vehicle for investment, as a job creator, and as a means of generating over £9bn in tax income for the Treasury.

“The investment figures we’ve seen this year are not surprising, as retailers tell us that they’re futureproofing their stores in two main ways.

“Firstly through hardware like efficient refrigeration, self-service tills and electronic shelf edge labels to increase the productivity of the business, and secondly through an increasingly diverse range of services like cash machines, banking services, Post Offices, prescription collections and dry cleaning – all services that previously would have taken their own place on the high street but are being brought under one roof to ensure that local people still have access to them.”

Peter Batt, MD of Nisa, said: “Today’s ACS Local Shop Report again highlights the critical role independent retailers play in supporting their local communities.

“With 71% of convenience stores independently owned, it’s clear the sector benefits from the personal touch and deep understanding independent shopkeepers provide, with their ability to tailor their proposition to local customer needs integral to their success.

“Despite the ongoing challenge of retail crime and the shocking far right riots, retailers continue to demonstrate their unwavering commitment to serving and enhancing their local areas, and I’m particularly proud of the way our Nisa retailers have persevered.”

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