It has always been the case that a strong, vibrant local business community is vital to our local economy. This will never be truer than when ‘lockdown’ ends. Many of our local businesses will struggle to recover from the current pause in trading and this will put many local jobs at risk. Our local economy, jobs and businesses are a ‘lifecycle’ that must be supported and allowed to thrive. If not then this will mean fewer jobs and less money circulating in our local economy, less tax collection which in turn means less money for local councils and boroughs to invest in our buildings and infrastructure.
Support our local businesses
This is where we all come in, the readers of our magazines, the residents of West Devon, Dartmoor and North Plymouth communities. We must try and support our local businesses, be they retail shops, restaurants, cafes or accountants, estate agents, solicitors, financial advisors, our local hairdressers and florists and the countless trades people, plumbers, gardeners, painters and decorators, window cleaners and electricians. Whenever possible we must try and spend our hard-earned money within our local community and keep it here.
Buy Local Campaign
That’s why we are launching a new logo and campaign for our magazines which focuses on the message ‘buy local - to save local businesses, local jobs and local communities’. This new logo will remind us of the importance of using local businesses whenever and wherever it is possible to do so.
Buy Local campaigns are not new and in some of our communities we already have ‘Totally Locally’ a fantastic UK initiative to encourage local spend. They estimate that £5 spent in local businesses equates to £16.8 billion, being invested back into our towns across the UK.
The Business Improvement District (BID) in Tavistock exists to help small local businesses to prosper and give them a voice in the community and some control over decisions made within the town. Both these organisations create and run fantastic initiatives such as ‘Fiver Fest’ to encourage local spending and big annual events like Dickensian. We must support them fully.
Small businesses provide 16.3 million jobs in the UK
Let’s just remind ourselves what small businesses mean to us in the UK. Small businesses create jobs, SME’s (Small, Medium Sized Enterprises) are responsible for 16.3 million jobs, 60% of the UK workforce (source FSB 2018). Small family firms generate up to 25% of the UK’s GDP (source PWC 2002). The combined annual turnover of small businesses was £2.0 trillion, 52% of all private sector turnover.
So, when we are back to ‘normal’ and you feel safe about going out again, please think about using local businesses first and you can help save and create jobs and support our local community.
Local businesses need us more than ever before.
Stay safe
Tim
Links Magazine Publisher