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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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Retail industry reacts to Chancellor’s mini budget

Posted on in Business News, Cycles News

Following the Chancellor’s mini-budget last week, the retail industry has been reacting to the support package for small businesses and independent shops….including some of the items conspicuous by their absence.

Following Kwasi Kwarteng’s statement, the Government provided further details to its plans to help cut energy bills for businesses through the new government Energy Bill Relief Scheme. The Government will provide a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices, and it will apply to fixed contracts agreed on or after 1 April 2022, as well as variable and flexible tariffs and contracts. To deliver the scheme the Government has set a “Supported Wholesale Price” – expected to be 21.1p per kwh for electricity and 7.5p per Kwh for gas. The scheme will apply to energy usage from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023 for businesses and will be reviewed in three months to inform decisions on future support after March 2023.

However, industry leaders have also said that the Chancellor’s economic plan failed to address business rates or VAT cuts that are needed to support the high street. The consensus view is that whilst much of the Chancellor’s statement was welcome, more support is needed for parts of the economy heavily hit by the pandemic and likely to come under pressure from households stretched by the rising cost of living.

Money notes

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) chief executive, James Lowman, said: “We welcome that the government’s plan aims to stimulate growth and incentivise investment by businesses. In the last 12 months local shops have invested £605million in improving services, making their businesses more sustainable, and creating secure local jobs.”

However, retail leaders also called for action on business rates before large bill increases are expected to take place next year.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said: “Retailers are facing immense cost pressures, not just from energy bills, but also a weak pound, rising commodity prices, high transport costs, a tight labour market and the cumulative burden of government-imposed costs.

“Yet what was missing from today’s announcement, was any mention of business rates, which are set to jump by 10% next April, inflicting another £800m in unaffordable tax rises on already squeezed retailers.

“It is inevitable that such additional taxes will ultimately be passed through to families in the form of higher prices.”

Experts at Altus Group predicted that total business rates bill are due to jump by more than £5.3 billion once the end of discounts for retail, leisure and hospitality firms are also taken into account.

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