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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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Redesigning Retail

Posted on in Business News, Cycles News

A recent article published on Forbes explains why the traditional retail model is no longer sustainable and how big brands are seemingly "turning it on its head".

One of London's oldest department stores, Fenwick, sees it joining the retail space race as it announces plans for renting out around 10% of the department store's floor-space, meaning that around 3,500 square foot of the shop floor will be given over to office space.

Hugo Fenwick said about the new development:

"Although mitigated by significant investment in the brand's own multi-channel platform, it is recognised that Fenwick will need to extend the building to provide a further revenue stream that will cross-subsidise the contribution from the department store."

As well as Fenwick, Marks and Spencer and Debenhams are also reported to have similar plans. This news is unsurprising as retail sales continue to decrease and large units such as department stores are both hard to fill and expensive to run.

Forbes questions whether this reduction in space represents a last desperate throw of the dice for department stores or whether it's an imaginative way to breathe new life into underused and unprofitable space, while being able to maintain a physical presence.

Similar concepts include Starbucks' "third-space" where a coffee shop can double act as a work zone and even a place for business meetings.

The article concludes that while up-and-coming concepts with low overheads such as Netflix and Amazon may appear to be thriving, a physical shop has something that an online retailer cannot have and something that human beings will always crave- presence and physical interaction.

In adapting to appeal to this element of consumer wants and needs, offline retail may have a hope yet.

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