Pledge Your Support for Independent Retail in 2013

The CLES (Centre for Local Economic Strategies) did some research for FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) about the value of a £1 spent locally - the results were compelling, sufficient to convince most people that when they shop locally they are genuinely having a positive impact on their community! They discovered that for every £1 spent locally around 50p - 70p of that money recirculates back into the local economy. For the same £1 spent out of town or online only 5p trickles back to the local community. When people appreciate the impact that their choice of where to spend can have we believe that more people will make more effort to spend more with local independent businesses.

That's why we want you to Pledge your Support for Independent Retail in 2013

Enjoy an Independent Easter!

The 'Enjoy an Independent Easter' is a campaign event from the 'Support for Independent Retail' campaign that focuses on engaging local independent businesses, those who serve consumers, to create 'activation events' which will be fun AND which will have a positive social and economic impact in their locale.

It launches in 2013 and will run from Saturday 23rd March to Sunday 14th April - 1 week before and 2 weeks after Easter Sunday, capturing the whole of the standard school holiday. Shoppers will participate in an Easter Egg Hunt, visiting participating shops on their Easter Egg Hunt maps, collecting 'virtual eggs' (a pretty egg-shaped sticker). When all the eggs have been collected the shoppers will win a prize of a REAL chocolate egg, a certificate for completing the Easter Egg Hunt (for the kids) and a chance to enter a prize draw as well!

The 'Enjoy an Independent Easter' campaign event is one of 3 annual events that include 'Independent Retailer Month' and 'Celebrate an Independent Christmas'. Together these 3 campaign events create a nationwide effort to improve footfall to our high streets, towns and village centres, to increase consumer confidence, and to boost retail sales.

The campaign was founded in 2012 by Clare Rayner, The Retail Champion.

Helping Consumers Find Independent Shops

To help consumers find Independent Shops near them we have created a searchable directory of UK independent retailers. The directory makes it easy for shoppers to find their local independent shops and enables them to make the choice to shop indie more often!

It is FREE to list your business, allows consumers to search by town and postcode, provides regular social media promotion for retailers with a Twitter account and the directory is also open to online only retailers. In fact any business that primarily serves the consumer can get a listing, that includes shops, cafes, restaurants and salons.

With 1000's of visitors each month to the directory looking for independent shops to source their purchases from, listing your business could help provide a steady supply of new ideal customers.

Check out our independent shops directory