Highway Cycles: Bishop’s Stortford town centre’s only bike shop shuts after 16 months

Bishop’s Stortford town centre’s only bike shop has shut its doors after 16 months of trading.

A sign on Highway Cycles’ Potter Street outlet tells customers the branch is permanently closed.

Hertfordshire’s largest independent bike and e-bike specialist opened in the former Paperchase premises in August 2023.

Then director Steve Dann said: “From the first day we held a pop-up in Jackson Square we had a good feeling about Bishop’s Stortford. We knew that what we do would match up with what the cyclists of Bishop’s Stortford need.”

The business’s flagship store in Hartham Lane, Hertford, remains open.

At the start of 2024, the Bicycle Association – the national trade association for the UK cycle industry – reported sales in 2023 were the lowest this century. The figures signalled a continuation of the post-Covid downturn, with total market value for the year falling 6%, on top of an 18% decline in 2022.

The association blamed a drop in consumer demand following the pandemic boom, intensified by the cost-of-living crisis, for the slump.

The volume of mechanical bikes sold in 2023 fell a further 5%, following a 23% drop in 2022, and the five-year trend showed sales in 2023 running 33% below 2019 levels. Sales of adult cycles fell 2% in 2023, compared to the previous year, while sales of children’s bikes dropped 8% over the same period.

According to the association, e-bike volume sales fell 7% in 2023. The organisation told members: “Volumes were still well ahead of 2019 levels, although sales have dipped since the end of the Covid boom. E-bike share of total bicycle sales has risen to 9% of volume and 31% of value but remains three times lower than the European average (27% of total bicycle volume in 2022).”

The association did see some encouraging signs, but warned: “Despite widespread price discounting, consumer demand is subdued and the industry remains heavily over-stocked. It is likely to take until at least 2025 to correct the imbalance between supply and demand.”

In a “manifesto”, it called for a national e-bike subsidy scheme, zero VAT on children’s cycles and funding to increase the UK cycle industry’s capacity to innovate.

As 2024 ends, a new report by insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor warns that the number of UK retailers on the brink of collapse surged by a quarter in recent months.

The strain on the retail sector follows new data showing a drop in the number of people heading to the shops during Boxing Day sales.

The Red Flag Alert report found 2,124 UK retailers were in critical financial distress between October and December 16. This was 25% higher than in the previous three months, July to September, although a slight decline of nearly 1% compared with the same period a year ago.

The latest figures include a 29% quarter-on-quarter surge in general retailers on the brink of collapse.

The Indie has invited Highway Cycles’ management to comment.