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22 Mar 2024

Rob Brown, co-director of Dalby Forest Cycle Hub, a not-for-profit hire scheme has been nominated for the Tourism Superstar 2024 award, run by VisitEngland.

8 Mar 2024

Daniel Blackham, editor of industry magazine BikeBiz, has been writing about his experience of completing the Cytech technical one qualification at training provider Spokes People in Milton...

6 Mar 2024

Cytech partner Activate Cycle Academy, the largest and most recognised training provider of bike maintenance and technical training courses to the UK’s cycle industry, recently welcomed a...

2 Jan 2024

Hudjo is the first online marketplace that lets cyclists park with locals, which relieves the anxiety of parking your bike. 

19 Dec 2023

Bira's CEO, Andrew Goodacre, took the spotlight on BBC Breakfast this week and later spoke with Nicky Campbell on BBC Radio 5 Live, shedding light on the rise in retail crime and shop theft,...

23 Nov 2023

Retail sector leaders have expressed a range of concerns, from taxation to business rates, following the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement this week.

15 Nov 2023

The British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA), which works with over 6,000 independent businesses of all sizes across the UK, has outlined its expectations from the government...

9 Nov 2023

Cytech has been named as the provider of Best Retailer Services in the 2023 BikeBiz Awards, recognising the positive impact of its service to the cycling industry. More than 25,000 Cytech...

2 Nov 2023

Cytech, the internationally recognised training and accreditation scheme for bicycle technicians, has relaunched its Cytech theory one online learning course delivering an introduction to...

4 Oct 2023

Shop owners have called on the Home Secretary to specifically outlaw attacks on retail workers.

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Firms call for Government to reform business rates or risk a high street collapse

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News , Political News

The leaders of household names including Tesco, B&Q and Waterstones have warned the chancellor that the business rates burden on shops is putting thousands of high street jobs at risk, and called for online retailers to pay their "fair share" of tax.

In a letter to Rishi Sunak before next month's budget, the chief executives of 18 retail and property organisations, representing more than a million employees and tens of thousands of shops, say failing to overhaul the commercial equivalent of council tax will hamper the ability of high streets and town centres to recover from the pandemic.

The letter, which is also signed by the bosses of Asda and Morrisons as well as members of the Independent Retailers Confederation (IRC), says the current system is "not sustainable in the long term and without reform, shops at the heart of communities will be at risk".

The letter makes the following specific recommendations:

  1. Reducing the business rates multiplier: The multiplier has risen from 35% in 1990 to more than 50% today. It should be significantly reduced, focusing on a level closer to the original rate of around 35% of the market rent. This would make the UK more competitive and show the Government is backing British shops.
  2. Level the playing field on tax: Currently online retailers pay a lower proportion of tax per sale than bricks and mortar retailers. We urge the Government to rebalance the tax base to ensure online and bricks and mortar retailers pay a similar proportion of tax and we welcome the consideration of viable options in the Government's ‘fundamental' review.

Ther letter urges Sunak "to use the upcoming budget to commit to fundamental reform of business rates focused on reducing the burden on retailers and levelling the playing field between bricks and mortar and online businesses". 

The letter comes as the Treasury explores options for an online sales tax in response to the explosion in internet shopping since the pandemic to help stem the collapse of the high street.

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