Local Bike Shop Day to focus on getting people back to work and school this autumn

Keeping the nation cycling into autumn and getting kids cycling to school will be two of the key themes for this year’s Local Bike Shop Day, organisers have said.

Cycling levels during lockdown rose by up to 300% on some days and the Government is offering Fix Your Bike vouchers as part of its Better Health campaign, in order to encourage thousands of people to get back into cycling.

According to organisers, Local Bike Shop Day, taking place on 5th September, provides a ‘perfect vehicle’ for cycle shops to encourage local residents to resurrect their own as well as their children’s bikes, or upgrade or buy new if preferred. It’s also the time to encourage people to have their bikes serviced for the autumn and to properly accessorise their own and their children’s bikes.

“There are now more people than ever taking cycling seriously for health, lifestyle and environmental reasons,” said Jonathan Harrison, marketing director at the ACT. “This makes it the perfect time for cycle shops to make use of Local Bike Shop Day to differentiate themselves from mainstream online and offline retailers and promote their specialist expertise as the way to help people get the most from their cycling.

“Local Bike Shop Day provides an opportunity for independent shops to be saying equip yourself for commuting, equip yourself for leisure cycling, ensure your bikes are properly serviced and maintained and get the accessories you need.

“And with something as important as a bike, it’s really important to buy something based on quality and to do so from an independent cycle shop that can provide the specialist knowledge and advice that a mainstream retailer cannot.”

Independent cycle shops can sign up free of charge to take part in this year’s Local Bike Shop Day. The first 300 to do so on the website will receive a physical pack in the post to help them promote their business on the day and drive footfall into their store. This will include a poster, door stickers and flyers.

Sign up here.

Read the August issue of BikeBiz below: