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Cycling club raising funds for youth bike maintenance workshops and 'go slow' inclusivity initiative

21 Nov 2024

A local cycling club is raising money and seeking donations and assistance in order to teach bike maintenance to young people through a series of workshops in 2025.
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Bira meets with Treasury members to discuss Budget concerns and business rate reform proposal

17 Nov 2024

Bira has held a meeting with members of the Treasury team to discuss concerns following its robust response to the Government’s recent Budget announcement.
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ACT teams up with Saledock to supercharge bike shop efficiency and customer experience

14 Nov 2024

The ACT has announced a dynamic partnership with Saledock - an all-in-one POS, eCommerce, and inventory management platform tailor-made for bike shops and workshops.
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'Devastating and out of touch' - independent retailers react to Budget bombshell

1 Nov 2024

Independent retailers across Britain have reacted with dismay to yesterday's Budget, with many warning of store closures, job losses and cancelled expansion plans.
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Devastating Budget Delivers Triple Blow to Independent Retailers, Says ACT and Bira

30 Oct 2024

The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) and the ACT have condemned today's Budget as the most damaging for independent retailers in recent memory, with... Read more…

Retailers paying one-third of all UK business rates despite making up only 9% of economy

30 Oct 2024

Retailers and hospitality businesses are paying three times their economic share in business rates, according to analysis by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and UK Hospitality.
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How much cash do you still accept? Independent cycling retailers can respond to this survey today

30 Oct 2024

ACT parent company Bira is working with UK Finance and other organisations who form the UK’s wholesale cash industry to gain vital information to ensure businesses get the best possible... Read more…

Bira Conference a huge success with ACT members in attendance

25 Oct 2024

ACT members were in attendance at the hugely successful Bira Conference in London last week, featuring an inspiring line-up of speakers providing valuable insights from independent retail... Read more…

Bira cautiously welcomes retail sales growth but calls for continued support

11 Oct 2024

ACT parent company Bira has responded to the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor for September 2024
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FSB launches blueprint to revitalise UK high streets and boost tourism

3 Oct 2024

The Federation of Small Businesses has launched a new initiative, which it says aims to transform high streets across the UK, by advancing economic, social, and cultural benefits, while also... Read more…

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ACS calls for Increased Police Funding to Focus on Violence in Local Shops and Communities

Posted on in Cycles News, Political News

According to IRC member ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) the government has confirmed that they will increase police funding by more than £1.1 billion for 2020-21, representing the largest funding increase for the police in ten years. Police and Crime Commissioners have also been encouraged to raise additional funding by through an increase in Council Tax to set a higher police precept. The new funding includes the £750 million previously announced by the government last year to support police forces recruit the first 6,000 of the planned 20,000 new police officers.

Government figures released last week have suggested that the police recorded 351,874 shop theft incidents in the retail sector in the year to September 2019, a 3% decrease on the previous year which contradicts industry data and retailers' experience. ACS has called for the new funding to prioritise tackling retail violence, which is often triggered by challenging shop thieves and enforcing age restriction policies.

ACS has called for the police chiefs and the government to make tackling violence a top priority. ACS has also warned that new figures from the Office for National Statistics' annual Crime Survey for England and Wales vastly underestimate the level of shop theft - which is linked to violent incidents.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said:

"The police recorded crime data does not reflect what local shops tells about shop theft and crime they experience in their stores. Shop theft remains prevalent and is the number one trigger for violence and abuse of staff.

"We welcome the Government's rhetoric on being tough on crime and more funding for police forces, but this must now turn into reality, including more police resources into local communities and better funding for the justice system to tackle the root cause of offending."

ACS has produced a short animation video for retailers and their staff, which details ways in which stores can manage and anticipate incidents of violence and abuse, including advice on dealing with shop thieves. The video is available here.

 

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