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12 Nov 2026

Wales is investing £4.5 million in cycling tourism ahead of the Tour de France Grand Départ in 2027, with funding supporting cycling hubs, bike hire, trail...

11 Nov 2026

New powers to give local leaders greater control over shared e-bike schemes, including tackling nuisance parking and antisocial behaviour, are among a number of proposed...

10 Nov 2026

Fairer business rates and better support for independent retailers will be the priorities of the new president of ACT parent company Bira.

10 Nov 2026

The ACT and Cytech joined industry experts for a NextGen Mechanics webinar exploring Europe’s bicycle mechanic skills shortage and the work under way to strengthen...

9 Nov 2026

ACT parent company Bira has warned that Scottish shops risk falling further behind unless next month’s Scottish Budget closes the business rates gap with England and Wales.

9 Nov 2026

The ACT, along with parent company Bira, has joined dozens of trade bodies, safety organisations and businesses in calling on the Government to introduce stronger rules to prevent unsafe...

6 Nov 2026

ACT has published guidance for retailers following SRAM’s stop-sale and stop-ride notice affecting certain RockShox ZEB forks.

3 Nov 2026

Independent retailers must keep evolving and innovating to survive and thrive, according to the former president of ACT parent company Bira.
 

29 Oct 2026

The E-Bike Summit will return to London on 26 April 2027, with the E-Bike Positive campaign, co-managed by the Association of Cycle Traders (ACT) and the Bicycle Association (BA), confirmed as a...

28 Oct 2026

Cytech technical three, the highest attainable qualification in professional cycle maintenance within the Cytech syllabus, is now available through training provider Life Cycle.

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750 UK firms sued daily for failing to pay rocketing business rates

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

 All councils within England were requested to provide details of how many businesses had been taken to court for non-payment of their business rates during the 2018/19 financial year. Figures show that a total of 171,018 businesses were summoned, which totals 9.83% of the 1,740,073 non-domestic properties liable for business rates.


According to real estate firm, Altus Group, the overall number works out at around 750 businesses being summoned across England every single day. The tax that medium and large businesses in England are required to pay rose by 2.4% on 1st April for 2019/20, making it the first time that the tax rates for businesses in England has gone above 50%.


The top five councils with the most summons, by volume, were Westminster (6,882); Birmingham (6,166); Manchester (5,228); Liverpool (4,254) and Leeds (3,497).

 

How to reduce your business rates


While business rates often account for a large portion of expenditure, it is generally unknown that many businesses could actually be paying less. ActSmart are partnered with RatesRecovery, a leading business rates appeal company whose specialist Chartered Surveyors have over 40 years of experience in saving businesses money.


RatesRecovery with ActSmart can offer you a free consultation, 20% off the standard fee and a no win no fee guarantee. RatesRecovery count Mothercare, Specsavers, English Rural and 4com among the many thousands of businesses they have represented but regardless of the size of your business RatesRecovery will take all the hassle out of appealing.


RatesRecovery guarantee their clients:

  • An honest and transparent service with help and advice available whenever it is required
  • High levels of savings with no upfront charges and a no win, no fee service
  • Support from highly experienced Chartered Surveyors
  • Only a Chartered Surveyor will visit you; never a sales person

Visit the ActSmart wesbite to find out more information on how you can reduce your business rates.

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