BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news

And that's not all, there are all sorts of 'trading unfairly' concepts to get your head round. The UK government has issued a consultation paper on the draft EU Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices. The proposed Directive includes a general prohibition on business-to-consumer unfair commercial practices and specific rules aimed at combating misleading and aggressive practices. The aim of the Directive is to enable consumers to buy, and for business to sell, with increased confidence anywhere in the EU.

The Canadian clothing brand, which entered the UK market in 2002 with an agent and Vancouver-based telesales, has hired two reps for the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Simon Watts has 27 i-BikeShop clients, nine of whom have so far signed up for Madison's Ultimatepursuits B2C website package. i-BikeShop is the user-modifiable website creation tool programmed specifically for IBDs. Users can now click behind-the-scenes tick-boxes to make their sites UP-friendly.

In reality, it's a padlock, and will be featured as one of the ten shortlisted inventions in BBC1's flagship 'Innovation Nation' programme due to be aired in November. "The lock has many uses, including for bike chains," a BBC spokesman told BikeBiz.com.

KMX Karts Limited has fought off the challenge of nearly 600 enterprises to reach the semi-finals of the HSBC Start-Up Stars Awards. Now Barry and Alan Smith, non-related owners of the company, are hoping the business will be selected as a finalist and go on to win the title and the top prize of £20 000. PLUS: Despite dealer reticence, KMX is looking to ramp up sales via IBDs - Norman Fay Cycles of Tyneside bought four KMXes and sold the first one within 48 hours.