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24 Jul 2026

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23 Jul 2026

West Midlands Police has dropped charges and reimbursed the owner of a £6,500 e-bike after admitting a test used to seize and destroy the legally compliant machine was inaccurate,...

23 Jul 2026

ACT parent company Bira has called for wider business rates relief for the high street. It comes after pubs, clubs and live music venues were handed a further 20% cut.

21 Jul 2026

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15 Jul 2026

The ACT has welcomed new rules protecting Buy-Now, Pay-Later shoppers, which came into force this week.

14 Jul 2026

New polling reveals the public cannot tell a road-legal e-bike from a non-road-legal one, as the two main cycle industry bodies, the Bicycle Association (BA) and the ACT, launch a new safety...

9 Jul 2026

ACT parent company Bira has warned that a new cap on Royal Mail's daily business collection capacity could cause serious problems for small retailers during the most important trading period of...

8 Jul 2026

Amazon and safety certification organisation UL have secured a court order preventing five e-bike and e-scooter companies from falsely claiming their products were UL-certified, marking another...

7 Jul 2026

The illegal use of electric off-road motorbikes and modified e-bikes fitted with throttles that effectively convert them into mopeds or motorbikes has become a road safety priority, according to...

1 Jul 2026

The ACT has warned that rising employment costs are quietly killing off one of the industry's most important entry points,  that being the traditional Saturday job.

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Chancellor's High Street Roundtable | Campaign Update from ACT parent company Bira

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

The Chancellor held a roundtable discussion on a future high street strategy last week, with Bira the sole voice representing smaller retail businesses.

Andrew Goodacre
Andrew Goodacre

Read an update on Bira's place at a roundtable discussion with the Chancellor from Andrew Goodacre, CEO.


Hello,

As some of you know Bira was invited to a roundtable discussion with the Chancellor last week. The purpose of the meeting was to start discussions on a future high street strategy. In response to criticism about the increase in business rates, The Chancellor announced the development of a new strategy for high streets.

At the meeting there were various stakeholders from retail and hospitality, but only Bira representing the smaller retail businesses. There was a lot of good discussions focused on planning, partnerships, investment and making it easier to change businesses and places. Whilst we did not directly discuss the increasing tax burden on high street businesses, there was an acceptance that this also needs reviewing.

This meeting was the first step on any new high street strategy and we should be proud that Bira was invited to such a meeting and our views are welcome. We do not need to ‘re-invent any wheels’ and we need to give businesses the chance to succeed – those were our overriding messages, and we will keep pushing these objectives


Thank you.

Andrew


 Make your voice heard as part of the independent cycling retail sector, and join the conversation on this vital issue, on Bira Connect.

 

 

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