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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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Leading industry bodies warn that plan for vacant shop-to-residential conversions will not save our high streets

Posted on in Business News, Cycles News, Political News

On the 18Closed streetth Feb 2021 leading industry bodies, including The ACT, ActSmart and many other members of the Independent Retailers Confederation (IRC), issued a joint letter to The Rt. Hon. Robert Jenrick MP - Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) - to urge the Government to recognise that its proposals for a blanket permitted development right on our high streets, enabling conversions to residential without planning permission, puts the future of our town centres at serious risk.

However, the MHCLG have now confirmed that the simplified planning process for retail to residential conversions will be going ahead.

The simplified planning process applies to units vacant for at least three months and smaller than 1,500 square metres. These conversions will no longer require full planning permission but instead use prior approval processes to sign off conversions unless there are significant flooding or noise concerns. This concludes MHCLG's consultation on planning flexibility and supporting housing delivery.

The proposal has been positioned as supporting new housing delivery, and part of the solution to the challenges facing UK town centres and high streets - especially in the wake of numerous lockdowns and tiering restrictions due to the Covid pandemic. 

Many organisations, including the British Property Federation (BPF) and London First are opposing the government proposals, saying the "uncontrolled conversion" of vacant shops to residential "will not save our high streets " and "damage town centres".

The BPF launched an appeal to urge the UK Government to recognise "the damaging impact" the plans could have on the future of the country's high streets. The BPF said the proposal would have significant adverse consequences and exacerbate the decline of the UK's high streets, far outweighing any positive contribution to new housing supply.

The lobby group said post-Covid high street recovery would depend on a "vibrant and carefully curated mix" of retail, residential, leisure, hospitality, education, healthcare, logistics and community facilities and services.

"Rather than encouraging careful consideration of what might be the most appropriate use for a store and its location, within the context of the entire high street, this new PDR will result in property developers prioritising residential," the BPF stated.

 

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