Scotland Loves Local campaign encourages people to shop local and support Inverness economy
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INVERNESS Business Improvement District (BID) has given its backing to a national campaign aimed at encouraging people to shop local and support the city’s economy.
Scotland Loves Local has been organised by Scotland’s Towns Partnership – in association with the Scottish Government – which is encouraging everyone to support the businesses which are at the heart of their home communities.
The campaign seeks to remind all those living in Scotland that town and city centres, including Inverness, are not just a series of buildings and pavements – they are made up of people – and harness the compassion and solidarity that was shown by communities during the coronavirus outbreak to help fuel the recovery.
Inverness BID manager Mike Smith said: “We at BID have been promoting the shop local theme for a number of years and in our terms this means spending money with all retailers locally – this includes national companies as well as independent local traders.
“The premise is that a good city centre needs a mix of national chains and independents to be attractive to the public and offer the widest range possible of goods, hence the opposition is online like Amazon.
“The other benefit of shop local is of course employment of staff locally which in turn benefits other trades, including hospitality.”
Phil Prentice, the chief executive of Scotland’s Towns Partnership, thanked Inverness BID for its support and added: “Up and down the country, our Business Improvement Districts do tremendous work to support our town centres and make a real difference to the economy. We believe that Scotland Loves Local can enhance that and help us build for the future, embracing much of the localism displayed by people during lockdown.”
He said the impact of coronavirus had hit town centres and local businesses hard. “Now is the time for us all to support them to get back on their feet in a way which recognises that we still need to stay safe and follow the public health guidelines.
“By thinking local first, we can help Scotland’s economic recovery from its grassroots, supporting our town centres within all of the public safety guidelines.
“The impact we can have by doing this should not be underestimated.
“The breadth of businesses in our town centres is vast. Whether you need a book, a pint of milk, a night out and a meal or some garden furniture, please think local first.
“Scotland Loves Local is all about getting people back to their roots and recognising that our town centre businesses and the people who run them are part of the fabric of our communities.
“Sometimes for generations these people have been there for us. Now it’s time for us to be there for them. One of the great positives of the terrible times in which we have found ourselves has been the greater appreciation of localism.
“We must now harness that to keep our communities vibrant and lay firm foundations as we work to ensure our town centres are fit for the future.”
