{$inpagemarkup}

Search News

Results: 1-10 of 666


ACT parent company Bira responds to Prime Minister's 'Bobbies on the Beat' plan

11 Apr 2025

Bira has cautiously welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement this week on plans to put 'thousands of Bobbies back on the Beat' with a new neighbourhood policing guarantee.
Read more…

ACT parent company Bira warns of 'Atrocious April' as shop price inflation rises

1 Apr 2025

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

ACT parent company Bira says Spring Statement fails to address high street crisis

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,... Read more…

ACT parent company Bira outlines key priorities ahead of Spring Budget

25 Mar 2025

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

Bristol-based cycling charity Life Cycle now offering Cytech training courses

20 Mar 2025

Cytech, the internationally recognised training and accreditation scheme for bicycle mechanics, have partnered with Bristol-based charity Life Cycle to offer a range of bicycle mechanic... Read more…

High street 'death knell' – indie retailers, including cycle shops, shutting doors ahead of April tax rises

12 Mar 2025

Towns and cities across Britain are already seeing a wave of closures as independent businesses shut their doors ahead of April’s triple tax burden, including those in the cycling retail... Read more…

Research shows UK businesses hiring more as consumer confidence lifts

5 Mar 2025

New research has revealed a recent uptick in UK consumer confidence, leading to increased hiring by businesses, with the retail sector responding positively to signs of economic resilience.
Read more…

Independent cycle shop becomes first retailer to stock new local bike brand

28 Feb 2025

Independent cycling retailer and ACT member Velo Fit has become the first to stock a new brand of bikes focused on combining quality and affordability.
Read more…

Bira cautiously welcomes new crime and policing bill to tackle retail crime across high street businesses

26 Feb 2025

ACT parent company Bira has cautiously welcomed Labour's Crime and Policing Bill but is calling for urgent action and immediate funding to address the surge in retail crime affecting independent... Read more…

Bira warns of 'troubled times ahead' despite interest rate cut

7 Feb 2025

ACT parent company Bira has warned that retailers across Britain face troubled times ahead despite today's Bank of England interest rate cut to 4.5%, as the Bank halves its growth forecast for... Read more…

Back to news menu

Time for indie retailers to lobby MPs for energy help

Posted on in Business News, Cycles News, Creative News, Outdoor News, Political News

ActSmart, ACT, Booksellers Association, Craft Bakers Association, British Sandwich & Food to Go Association and the Café Life Association from the Independent Retailers’ Confederation are throwing their weight behind Bira, the British Independent Retailers Association, for shop owners to lobby their local MPs for energy help.

The IRC fully supports bira’s call for a cap on energy increases for businesses, a cut in VAT and more funding for investment in low-energy technology. Independent retailers have now been advised to take these appeals directly to their own MPs.

Andrew Goodacre, CEO of bira, says: “With energy prices soaring, we all need to take action. This cannot continue and we need our local MPs to sit up and take note.

“We hope by all our indies also taking a stand we can create some real noise and action off the back of this, putting pressure on those in power and getting our voices heard.”

Bira have created a template letter which can be amended and sent directly to your MP. You can download that letter here.

Back to news menu

Useful links

If you have any other queries please contact us.