"I don't think we're much different from the rest of the retail high street," Hall says. "The consumer's obviously finding [less] money in their pocket, their take-home pay has gone down and they're probably a little bit worried about all the doom and gloom in the world. So, whenever they have the chance to think about whether they should spend money, they tend to reconsider."

Although fashionable, Hall is quick to point out that his products are by no means small-ticket items, with the average cost of a bike reaching around �600. And it's these types of considered, discretionary purchases that consumers are thinking long and hard about.

"The reality is that a lot of people are choosing to go bike riding with a second-hand bike," he says. "So things like our servicing is up significantly, indeed some of our more specialist parts like wheels are selling well because people are deciding to keep hold of their frames.

"Ultimately that has two issues for us: one, we get most of our upside from selling a bike and, two, the add-ons � so, if consumers are not coming in to buy a bike they might not come in to buy add-ons either."

Of course, a stuttering economy is not the only issue having an impact on the British high street � a change in consumer behaviour was well under way prior to the 2008 crash and, arguably, has only been hastened by it.