World Consumer Rights Day: Why Fairness and Transparency Matter for Businesses

Discover why World Consumer Rights Day highlights the importance of consumer protection, transparency and trust for modern businesses.

Each year on World Consumer Rights Day, organisations, regulators and businesses around the world highlight the importance of protecting consumers and promoting fair, transparent markets. 

While the day is often framed as a reminder of consumer protections, it also offers a powerful opportunity for businesses to demonstrate integrity and strengthen relationships with their customers.

In a competitive marketplace where reputation can be built or broken online in a matter of hours, putting consumer rights at the heart of a business strategy is no longer optional. It is essential.

Why Consumer Rights Matter to Businesses

Consumer rights are not simply regulatory obligations. They underpin trust in the entire economy.

When customers know they will be treated fairly, they are more likely to buy, return and recommend a business to others. In contrast, poor service, misleading advertising or unclear pricing can damage credibility and drive customers away.

In the UK, consumers are protected by legislation such as the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which ensures goods must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality. Services must be delivered with reasonable care and skill.

For responsible businesses, complying with these rules should be the starting point rather than the end goal.

Transparency Builds Customer Loyalty

Modern consumers are more informed than ever before. With price comparison sites, online reviews and social media platforms readily available, customers can quickly identify companies that operate fairly and those that do not.

Businesses that clearly communicate prices, return policies and service terms build a foundation of trust. Transparency around delivery times, guarantees and refunds reduces disputes and reassures customers that they are dealing with a reputable organisation.

Many successful companies actively exceed legal requirements by offering extended guarantees, generous returns policies or proactive customer support.

The Cost of Ignoring Consumer Rights

Businesses that ignore consumer protections can face serious consequences.

Regulatory action, negative press coverage and social media backlash can quickly damage a brand. Complaints to bodies such as Citizens Advice or Trading Standards can escalate into formal investigations if poor practices persist.

But the greatest cost is often reputational. In an era where trust is a key currency, customers rarely return to companies that appear dishonest, evasive or unresponsive when problems arise.

Turning Consumer Rights into a Competitive Advantage

Forward-thinking businesses recognise that respecting consumer rights can become a powerful selling point.

Companies that focus on fairness, quality and accountability stand out in crowded markets. Clear communication, ethical marketing and responsive customer service create loyal customers who become advocates for the brand.

Training staff to handle complaints professionally, resolving disputes quickly and maintaining transparent policies all contribute to stronger long-term relationships with customers.

A Shared Responsibility

World Consumer Rights Day serves as a reminder that healthy markets depend on cooperation between businesses, regulators and consumers.

When companies commit to ethical practices and transparent communication, they not only protect their customers but also strengthen the credibility of their entire industry.

For businesses across the UK, the message is simple: respecting consumer rights is not just good compliance, it is good business.

That's Green: Don’t Be a Sinner, Be a Binner!

That's Green: Don’t Be a Sinner, Be a Binner!: A campaign from That’s Green Litter is one of the simplest environmental problems to solve, yet it continues to spoil our streets, parks, a...

Loxa Closes £2.7 Million Seed Round to Scale Product Protection Across European Retail

Loxa, the insurtech enabling retailers to offer seamless product protection at the point of sale, today announced the successful close of its £2.7 million Seed round, completed across three tranches. 

The round was backed primarily by angels and family offices, including the Lazaroo-Hood Group, with introductions facilitated by Angel Investment Network, FundMyPitch, and the Entrepreneur's Collective. 

Capital will be deployed to drive EU expansion, scale Loxa's retail network to 150+ live partners, and broaden the platform to support every insurable product category.

“We started Loxa because we believed embedded product protection should be as universal as the checkout itself, available to every retailer, for every customer, everywhere. 

"We made a deliberate choice to build this round with angels and operators who shared our mission and backed our vision from the start, and that alignment builds better businesses. Closing this round means we can now deliver on that promise at scale, with the right people and resources to execute successfully,”

Jamie Hamer, Co-Founder & CEO, Loxa told That's Business.

Since launching in 2023, Loxa has grown to over 45 live retail partners across furniture, eyewear, power tools, electronics, catering appliances and other categories, embedding with retailers like eCatering, Toolden, Hyundai Tools, Rowen Homes, Maker & Son, and JCB Pro Tools. 

Hundreds of further retailer conversations are ongoing with merchants who recognise the value of offering their customers comprehensive product protection at the point of purchase.

The fundraise also marks a step-change in what Loxa can offer retailers. As a full-stack MGA, Loxa can now build and launch insurance schemes tailored specifically to the needs of its retail partners and their products, rather than only suggesting off-the-shelf solutions. 

Loxa’s technology connects natively to over 70% of UK ecommerce infrastructure via apps for Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, and BigCommerce, as well as direct API integrations. Loxa enables retailers to go live in as little as 48 hours, meaning the barrier to offering product protection has never been lower.

With the Seed round now closed, Loxa enters its next phase with both the capital and the leadership to execute at pace. 

Erjon Skora joined the business last year at a pivotal point as Co-Founder and Managing Dire
ctor, bringing over 16 years of experience across MGAs, insurers, financial institutions, and online marketplaces, most recently as MD and Head of Insurance & Product, EMEA at Cover Genius. His appointment reflects the ambition behind this raise: to build the defining embedded insurance platform for retailers across Europe.

“Closing the Seed is the starting gun, not the finish line. We're heading into a Series A with traction, a clear European roadmap, and a system that onboards retailers in under 48 hours, integrates seamlessly, handles policy volumes at scale, and delivers an excellent claims experience. The next 18 months will define Loxa's position in this market, and we intend to own it," Erjon Skora, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Loxa told us.

Loxa is advised by board advisors Robin Leigh, Richard Smith, Kayar Raghavan, and Ross Lazaroo-Hood. The company extends its sincere thanks to all investors, advisors, partners and supporters who have backed its vision.

https://www.loxacover.com

If Your Premises Look Neglected, Why Should Anyone Trust Your Professional Services?

First impressions matter. In business, they often determine whether a potential customer walks through your door, picks up the phone, or simply decides to take their business elsewhere. 

While companies invest heavily in branding, marketing campaigns, and online presence, many overlook a very visible factor that shapes public perception: the condition of their physical premises.

If your office, shop, workshop, medical practice, solicitors, restaurant or consultancy building looks unkempt, dirty, or neglected, what message does that send about the services you provide?

Your Premises Reflect Your Standards

Whether you run an accountancy practice, a legal firm, dental practice, a consultancy, or a small retail business, customers instinctively associate your surroundings with your standards. 

If weeds are pushing through the slabs or the pavement outside your door, bins are overflowing, paint is peeling, or signage is dirty and faded, potential clients may assume the same lack of care applies to your work.

Fair or not, people judge quickly.

If a solicitor’s office looks neglected, clients may wonder whether their paperwork will receive the same lack of attention. If a marketing agency operates from a scruffy building, businesses might question their professionalism. And if a contractor’s yard is disorganised and untidy, customers could reasonably question the quality of their workmanship.

Trust Begins Before the First Conversation

Customers often form an opinion before they ever speak to you. They may walk past your building, drive by it daily, or look it up on online maps and street-view images.

The outside of your premises becomes a silent introduction to your business.

A clean, well-maintained building signals reliability, competence, and attention to detail. Fresh signage, trimmed hedges, swept pavements, and tidy entrances all reinforce the idea that the business inside is organised and professional.

On the other hand, neglected surroundings suggest complacency or lack of pride.

Small Improvements Make a Big Difference

Improving the appearance of your premises doesn’t necessarily require a large budget. Often, small changes create the biggest impact:

Remove weeds and litter around entrances

Repaint doors, railings, or tired signage

Clean windows regularly

Maintain outdoor lighting and pathways

Ensure bins and waste areas are tidy

Keep reception and public-facing areas clean and welcoming

These relatively simple actions demonstrate care and professionalism.

Your Brand Exists in the Real World

In the age of digital marketing, it is easy to assume that websites and social media carry most of the responsibility for brand image. But the real-world environment still matters enormously, particularly for local businesses.

Your premises are effectively a physical advertisement for your company. Every passer-by is a potential customer forming an impression about your brand.

If that impression is one of neglect, it can quietly undermine even the most polished marketing campaign.

Pride in Your Workplace Builds Confidence

Well-maintained premises also affect staff morale. Employees who work in clean, organised environments tend to feel more pride in their workplace. 

That pride often translates into better customer service and stronger engagement with clients.

When your team feels confident about where they work, customers notice.

The Bottom Line

Professional credibility is built from many small signals, and the condition of your premises is one of the most visible.

If a business cannot maintain the outside of its own building, potential clients may reasonably wonder how carefully it will manage their accounts, their legal affairs, their marketing strategy, or their project.

A tidy, well-kept premises tells customers something simple but powerful: this is a business that cares about the details.

And in most professional services, attention to detail is exactly what clients are paying for.

The genesis for this blogpost? My wife and I were on a shopping trip to a fairly distant town. We walked past a dental practice and my wife pointed out the weed covered frontage, grubby facade and careworn window blinds. She said: "If that's what you can see from the outside I wonder what the parts you can't see are like?"

The Pioneer of B2B Marketing Passes the Torch: John Coe Joins B2B Marketing United as President Emeritus

Rich Fitzmaurice

Man Who Coined 'B2B Marketing' Sells Legendary Domain to Global CMO to Build the Practitioner-Led Home Ground of B2B marketing.

Today, Paartner Limited announces the acquisition of b2bmarketing.com and the appointment of John Coe as President Emeritus of B2B Marketing United. 

Founded by Rich Fitzmaurice, an experienced global Chief Marketing Officer, and in partnership with Mark Choueke, Partner and Chief Creative Officer at OrbitalX, former editor of Marketing Week, author of Boring2Brave', the company is building the practitioner-led ecosystem and home ground for B2B marketers worldwide; B2B Marketing United.

A Legendary Partnership

John Coe is recognised as a pioneer of B2B marketing and the figure who first coined the term now accepted the world over as the name of this distinct discipline. Working in New York in 1997, Coe championed the designation 'B2B marketing' as practical shorthand for business-to-business marketing or industrial marketing. John founded B2BMarketing LLC and registered the domain b2bmarketing.com, firmly establishing a label that quickly resonated as a clearer way to describe the scale, complexity, and commercial importance of marketing between businesses.

In 2004, Coe authored Fundamentals of Business-to-Business Sales and Marketing, published by McGraw Hill, further formalising B2B marketing as a discipline. The book reinforced the importance of aligning marketing with real sales dynamics, buying committees, and trust-based decision-making. Now, three decades after creating the term, Coe has as decided to pass the torch and allowed B2B Marketing United to leverage the domain.

Joining Coe on the B2B Marketing United team is Mark Choueke, Partner and Chief Creative Officer at OrbitalX, the former editor of Marketing Week and a recognised voice of the industry. Choueke brings 20+ years of editorial leadership and practical experience. He's also the bestselling author of the ‘Boring2Brave’ along with a course of the same name.

Choueke will serve on the advisory board.

What They're Building

B2B Marketing United is a holistic ecosystem for B2B marketers, including fractionals, consultants, and agency professionals.

"We're bringing together everything B2B marketers need to have successful careers and lives into one home ground for the profession" Rich Fitzmaurice, Founder of B2B Marketing United told That's Business.

"I first studied B2B marketing at University in 2002, buying John’s book, and in my later senior marketing role, I read Mark’s work to keep up to speed. It is an honour to join forces with such influences to give back to a profession that has given us all so much. 

"With their help, we will build a place where honesty beats hype, where humour and substance coexist, and where real marketers are heard. A place where you leave smarter, not sold to. Where real questions get real answers from people who’ve actually done the job. B2B Marketing United will be where our profession grows up together."

Strategic Backing from Industry Leaders

B2B Marketing United has raised significant funds from C-level executives in some of the world’s largest companies. "These investors bring more than capital, they bring formidable knowledge, experience and counsel"  added Fitzmaurice.

In Their Own Words

John Coe, President Emeritus:

"When B2B marketing first emerged as a discipline in the late nineties, many people underestimated both the size and importance of the market. That has changed dramatically over the last thirty years, but the fundamentals have not. Trust, relevance, and understanding real buying dynamics still matter. 

"I am very happy to pass the torch onto Rich and the team. I have been made to feel very welcome, and I look forward to working closely with them moving forward."

Mark Choueke, Member of the advisory board:

"I’ve spent 20 years in B2B marketing and, if you like, editorial leadership. I wrote ‘Boring2Brave’ because I saw a gap in the way B2B marketing executes its remit, fulfils its potential and ultimately, accounts for itself. The gap is one where confidence, autonomy, strategic influence, managed risk-taking and recognition should all exist. 

"I’m delight to be an advisor to B2B Marketing United and to support its content because it’s time we B2B marketers develop and learn from one another rather than theory, academics or conference organisers that don’t actually operate in the role. When John personally select Rich to take on B2Bmarekting.com, and when I saw Rich’s vision, I knew I wanted to be involved."

www.paartner.com

www.b2bmarketing.com

Vital support for jobseekers in West Cumbria

West Cumbrian jobseekers are receiving a helping hand to find work, thanks to grant funding totalling more than £40,000.

The Programme and Project Partners (PPP) Social Impact Fund, managed by Cumbria Community Foundation, and funded by Kellogg Brown and Root Ltd, Amentum Clean Energy Ltd, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, and Altrad Babcock Ltd, was launched last year.

It aims to enable access to educational and training activities that raise career aspirations; support individuals in becoming “work ready”; facilitate entry into meaningful employment; and remove barriers to employment and economic participation.

Since then, £42,520 has been awarded to projects across West Cumbria.

Social enterprise Time to Change West Cumbria (TTC) has received £10,000 to support individuals seeking work. The funding could provide a bicycle or bus pass for travel to work trials, a CSCS card needed to work on a construction site, or other essential equipment.

Rachel Holliday, TTC CEO told That's Business: “We're delighted to be awarded £10,000 from the PPP Social Impact Fund to continue to help local people in need in our area. So many people are struggling financially with the cost of living crisis and just aren't not able to make ends meet. 

"By supporting people into work and helping them sustain their employment, we can help many people move towards a better life and a brighter future.”

People First Independent Advocacy has been awarded £10,000 towards funding a Job Coach to support staff with learning disabilities and/or autism at Harbour Place Community Cafe in Workington.

Revive Furniture Recycling has received £10,000 towards the cost of delivering a community training and employment project to residents in Copeland who are NEET, unemployed, or facing multiple barriers.

And Whamos Training and Development in Millom has been awarded £2,520 to cover staff costs for delivering one-to-one and small-group sessions in Digital Skills, English, Maths, Life Skills and Employability.

Last year £10,000 was awarded to Goodlives, a charity that runs training centres for adults facing long-term unemployment, social exclusion or poor mental health, in Cleator Moor and at West Lakes Science Park, near Whitehaven. 

The grant helped to fund a Project Trainer to provide support for adults to improve their skills and self-confidence and help with their job search.

The PPP is a 20-year partnership established by Sellafield Ltd in 2019 to deliver major infrastructure projects. Other businesses have now stepped forward to contribute to the fund, seeing the impact it is having in transforming lives in West Cumbria.

Global AI-powered digital transformation leader Atos, which has a base in Whitehaven, has donated £5,072 to the fund. Phil Lazell, Account Director at Atos told us: "As a business with roots here in West Cumbria, we strongly believe in supporting the local community. We're delighted to be able to help the team at PPP in the vital work they do, removing barriers for people to get back into meaningful and fulfilling work."

Bauer Technologies has contributed £500 to the fund.

The PPP Social Impact Fund is also open to applications from individuals, particularly those facing complex barriers to employment or living in areas of high deprivation.

Grants of up to £2,000 are available for individuals aged 18 and over, living in the former boroughs of Allerdale and Copeland. Applicants must have the backing of a recognised professional, such as a support worker or teaching professional.

Steve Harnwell, PPP managing director, told us: “I'm delighted to see our latest grants being awarded to such a mix of amazing community organisations. Each is doing incredible work investing in skills, training and giving people the confidence to pursue meaningful work.

“Our Social Impact Fund helps them to deliver this vital work by removing barriers to employment and creating opportunities that make a lasting difference to people’s lives.”

Dr Jenny Benson, Director of Programmes & Partnerships at Cumbria Community Foundation, said: “We’re delighted to work with Partnership and Project Partners to ensure this funding reaches those who need it most. We know many people in West Cumbria face significant barriers to securing employment and this fund is making a real difference, providing practical support where it is most needed.”

Find out more about the fund at https://www.cumbriafoundation.org/fund/programme-and-project-partners-ppp-social-impact-fund

For further information on applying to the fund, please contact the Grants Team on 01900 825760 or email grants@cumbriafoundation.org.

Cumbria Community Foundation gives around £6 million in grants a year to local charities and voluntary groups through over 100 grant making funds set up by generous businesses, individuals and families.

To find out more about setting up a fund or becoming a member and supporting those in need in Cumbria, contact Development Manager Caroline Adams on 01900 820825 or email caroline@cumbriafoundation.org.

Motorcycle News Bikes for Sale to be relaunched this month following new iVendi partnership

One of the UK’s busiest specialist online used bike portals, Motorcycle News (MCN) Bikes for Sale, is being relaunched this month thanks to a new partnership with automotive retail technology specialist iVendi.

Work has been underway for several months on a new version of the site, designed to be more effective and easier for consumers, while adding a range of advanced tools for dealers designed to support sales and finance.

Gareth Ashman, group commercial director at MCN’s owner, Bauer Media UK’s Automotive and Specialist Division, told That's Business: “Using iVendi’s technology, the platform will make it easier for buyers to find and buy their next new or used bike, while allowing retailers to manage live leads, finance, payments and online sales more efficiently.

“By combining the trusted MCN brand, our expert editorial content and highly engaged motorcycle audience, with iVendi’s proven experience in end-to-end automotive platforms, we’re creating a marketplace that delivers a leading-edge online journey for both bike buyers and dealers.”

Features being added to the site include iVendi’s latest technology, the Finance Navigator motor finance comparator, alongside a finance calculator, eligibility check, reserve now capability, part-exchange valuation, buy online button and a range of lead management tools

James Tew, (PICTURED) CEO at iVendi, told us: “MCN Bikes for Sale has long been among the most valuable specialist classified bike spaces in the UK, regularly attracting 200,000 individual visitors per month. Our aim is to enhance that market position.

“Bike retailers will especially notice the difference in motor finance, thanks to features like Finance Navigator, risk-based pricing, multi-lender capabilities and extensive reporting, all of which are proven features of our existing technology.

“We want to make sure when people visit MCN, read a review and then search for that bike in the accompanying marketplace, they’ll have the best experience possible, while dealers have the tools needed to maximise that buyer enthusiasm.”

The new platform will be operational from March 2, supported by launch marketing activity across Bauer Media UK’s bike magazines, web sites, social channels and radio stations. Existing dealer users of MCN Bikes for Sale will be automatically switched over a day earlier.

James added that partnership was part of a new strategy to position iVendi as the Shopify of automotive retail – with highly effective technology covering every step of the customer journey.

“For a project such as MCN Bikes for Sale, we are able to deliver a complete and integrated processes for consumers, dealers and lenders that we believe are unrivalled in terms of ease of use, flexibility and compliance.”

https://www.ivendi.com