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11 Apr 2025

Cycling UK has called for greater, targeted investment in cycling infrastructure across the UK to help more women feel safe and confident to cycle, with the charity urging Government to commit...

10 Apr 2025

Graeme Stickells, Head Trainer at South Africa’s only Cytech training centre Torq Zone Academy, is recovering from a life-threatening hit-and-run incident — and a crowdfunder has...

9 Apr 2025

Seven in ten cyclists in the UK have had their bike stolen, with the average cost of a stolen bike at £612.80 bringing the total estimated cost of thefts to £2.4 billion, according...

8 Apr 2025

MPs from multiple parties are pushing for Cycle to Work scheme to be expanded to include more people, including pensioners and freelancers, with the aim of encouraging more people to cycle.

2 Apr 2025

New regulations around recycling, known as ‘Simpler Recycling’, will soon require non-household municipal premises, including businesses, schools, and hospitals, to separate food...

2 Apr 2025

WorkNest has provided ACT members with essential resources covering statutory employment rates and the upcoming Employment Rights Bill, with the updates aimed at helping independent...

1 Apr 2025

Bira has voiced serious concerns over the latest figures from the BRC-NIQ Shop Price Index for March 2025.

26 Mar 2025

ACT parent company Bira has said the Chancellor's Spring Statement delivered today has failed to address the "perfect storm" of cost pressures facing independent retailers across the UK,...

25 Mar 2025

ACT parent company Bira has outlined its key priorities ahead of the Chancellor's Spring Budget statement.

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Mary Portas warns government to act now or see half of high street shops shut

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

Ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement this week, retail expert Mary Portas called on the Government to rethink business rates and VAT to help struggling retailers.

She said: “Put simply we could lose half of all shops. We need to look at the systems they are currently working under, because they are not fit for purpose for the future.

Row of Bikes

“So VAT, business rates, all of it needs to be looked at. We need to look at the bigger picture and how people want, and need to live, in the future – for the good of themselves and the planet.”

In 2011, she published a report stating the aim was to “put the heart back into the centre of our high streets, calling on the authorities to re-imagine them “as destinations for socialising, culture, health, wellbeing, creativity and learning.” But she says nothing has changed in the past decade and without more support thousands of small shops will be lost during the cost-of-living crisis.

“It’s no different now to 11 years ago when I brought out my report,” she says. “As for big business and governments, people don’t trust them, they’ve had enough. We want what’s local, what’s safe and what we can trust.”

She added: “What’s inspiring, but at the same time frustrating, is everything I wrote in my report more than a decade ago, about how important high streets are to our society and our daily lives, is the same.

“They’re more important than what is being sold to us. People, particularly post-Covid, realise how important they are to their wellbeing and how they live. Having thriving high streets we can walk or cycle to for our daily needs is vital to our future.”

She praised “incredible independents” which make up 90% of high street businesses but admitted frustration because “all we talk about are big businesses”.

She said: “Small businesses have been hugely successful, and we need them to succeed. When it comes to budgets and government spending, I believe it needs to be about prioritising. And I happen to think we should prioritise the wellbeing of society.”

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