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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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'Biggest Cash Increase Ever' to affect National Living Wage from April

Posted on in Business News, Cycles News, Political News

As of the New Year, the Government have announced what it calls ‘the biggest cash increase ever' in the National Living Wage rate. At £8.72 per hour, the National Living Wage will rise by 51p in April from its current rate of £8.21.

Independent Retailers Confederation (IRC) member, ACS, has warned ministers that significant hikes in the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates announced today will put further pressure on struggling high street businesses.

From April 2020, the new rates will be as follows:

 

The new rates have been recommended by the Low Pay Commission, and have now reached the target set by the Government in 2015 of the NLW equalling 60% of median earnings by 2020. The Chancellor has indicated that he will recommend a target of two thirds of median earnings for future wage rates by 2024.

 

ACS chief executive James Lowman said the following:

"Every week we hear more about the challenges facing high streets, particularly secondary centres away from major cities. The fact is that rising wage costs are the biggest single factor among many issues impacting all types of retailers, and there is a tension between the desire to raise wages for the lowest paid and the need for viable shops and vibrant high streets."

Findings from ACS' National Living Wage survey suggest that retailers are already taking action to deal with the most recent increase in the National Living Wage in April 2019:

72% of retailers have reduced the number of paid working hours in their business
64% have seen a reduction in the profitability of their business; and
52% of independent retailers have had to take on more hours in the business themselves

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