Retailers embrace city council’s record-breaking scheme to stimulate local economy
Buying a gift and card in Glasgow just got so much easier after the city council launched its own gift card – and pre-loaded 85,000 with £105 each for local residents.
As part of the Scotland Loves Local scheme, the Glasgow Gift Cards are aimed at boosting businesses across the city and it’s among the biggest the UK has seen with over 760 firms already registered, including a raft of greeting card and gift retailers.
Retas 2022 award winner Penny Black is among the many greeting card retailers keen to participate, and director Jo Marwaha said it was “a no brainer” for her store to get involved in the Scotland Loves Local gift card initiative.
She added: “Directing this post-pandemic recovery money to the High Street sends a powerful message about what we value as a community and, we hope, as a business to see customers use the vouchers in-store and then return to our High Streets instead of buying from supermarkets or other big – and perhaps discount – chains.”
Others taking part include Papyrus, Maia Gifts, Stephen O’Neill Art, Ae Fond Kiss, Born In Scotland, Design Works, Downstairs Design, Hell Yeah, Hoolit Gifts, I Am Nomad, Janet & John, Sunshine No1, Velvet Moon and Welcome Home.
Papyrus owner Fiona Fabien told PG Buzz: “We think the Glasgow Loves Local card is a fantastic opportunity for Glasgow’s independent businesses to benefit from a cash injection. It’s particularly welcome while household budgets are under huge pressure.
“The Scotland Loves Local campaign encourages those who live in the city to support local businesses on their High Street. We have continued to see a move by customers to support their local independent businesses in recent years, which was strengthened during the pandemic – and the card can also be purchased as a gift card going forward, so this will continue to reinforce the Shop Local mantra.”
The surge in businesses signing up to the scheme follows Glasgow City Council’s decision to provide financial support to 85,000 lower income households, giving them cards pre-loaded with £105 each.
The Glasgow Gift Cards are also available for anyone to buy, and it’s hoped people will do so while the council’s one-off stimulus – worth more than £8.5million to local businesses – should encourage people across the city to effectively use them as local currency in the longer term.
Of the 760-plus businesses signed up so far, 365 are in the shopping category, including independent shops, social enterprises, convenience stores, supermarkets, and major chains – and the scheme has already broken the record for the number of businesses registered to take part, more than double the UK’s previous biggest programme of 300 firms.
The Glasgow-branded gift cards can only be spent with businesses signed up to accept them within the city boundaries, meaning the money is locked into the area’s economy.
The funding has come via a £9.45m Covid Economic Recovery Funding package awarded to the city council by the Scottish Government, and the roll-out is an extension of the Scotland Loves Local campaign, Scotland’s Towns Partnership’s (STP) Holyrood-backed drive for people to help their communities recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
“The work taking place in Glasgow highlights the remarkable potential of local gift cards as a means by which to provide a significant injection into regional economies. Nothing has been done on this scale before,” said STP’s chief officer Phil Prentice.
“The decision by Glasgow City Council to use the cards to help so many homes across the city deal with the cost-of-living crisis – at the same time helping local businesses recover from the pandemic – has been a game-changer.”
Phil added that the council’s one-off stimulus has taken “the financial power of the gift card programme in the city to the next level”, and he said: “It’s one that we hope will help people realise that these cards are available to purchase and use as a long-term way of supporting local businesses. Importantly, it also reinforces the Scotland Loves Local rallying cry to think, choose and spend local.”
The pre-loaded cards will be sent out in August as there is no application process with council tax data being used to identify households in receipt of Council Tax Reduction to find those eligible to receive them. To reduce the risk of theft, the cards will require activation via an individualised authentication process.
STP is working alongside Perth-based company FinTech Miconex, which is administering and delivering the individual gift card programmes available in each of Scotland’s 32 local authority regions.
A similar disbursement scheme in East Ayrshire, launched by East Ayrshire Council and Kilmarnock Business Association in response to the pandemic, was credited with delivering the dual benefit of supporting lower income homes and boosting the local economy.
For more details about the scheme, visit www.lovelocal.scot/glasgow.
Top: Greetings and gift retailer Born To Shop has signed up for the Glasgow Gift Card scheme
