Plymouth’s independent shops and businesses are joining in with the Totally Locally national Fiver Fest – a high street shopping campaign
Thousands of independent businesses are coming together to highlight their contribution to the great British high street and Plymouth is taking part.
To show the importance of supporting our high streets, Plymouth is joining more than 100 independent high streets across the UK to put on special £5 offers from 10 to 24 October as part of the Totally Locally Fiver Fest.
Steve Hughes, chief executive of the Plymouth City Centre Company, said: “Fiver Fest is now a big part of our promotions for independent traders. We appreciate it when our community support us, so these offers are to say thank you for that support, and to show just what great value our local businesses are.
“Many of our traders in the West End Plymouth and Plymouth Market have already signed up to take part and we hope other independent traders will join in.
“Fiver Fest ties in nicely with our #GeddonPlymouth campaign and the creation of our Shop4Plymouth website and social media channels, which is led by Plymouth City Council and supported by us and other partners, all with the aim of getting people back to the high street.”
Fiver Fest is a free to join campaign, devised and run by Totally Locally, a grass roots high street organisation that has been helping businesses and high streets to help themselves since 2010 with incredible results.This Fiver Fest, Totally Locally is partnering with Visa to encourage even more small business owners to sign up to this celebration of independent high streets. Together, they are also calling on consumers to divert £5 of their weekly spend to support the small businesses in their communities.
Fiver Fest is based around this message: If every adult in Plymouth spent just £5 per week in their local independent shops and businesses, it would mean £51.3m per year going directly into the local economy. This would lead to more jobs, a better high street, a stronger economy and a nicer place to live.
The following £5 offers are up for grabs in Plymouth from 10 to 24 October:
- The Kawaii Stall, Plymouth Market: An authentic Japanese notebook/or drawing pad and 1 pen of your choice
- Kawaffle, Plymouth Market: Two cheese and tomato savoury waffles
- Soulfood Vendor, Plymouth Market: A range of meals with a drink, including chicken burgers, chicken curry and loaded wraps
- Tantuni, Plymouth Market: Chicken or veg/halloumi wrap with dip of choice for £5
- Vinyl Grooves Records, Plymouth Market: 3 singles (45rpm), normally £2 each
- Coronet Engravers, Plymouth Market: Watch strap alterations, or watch batteries fitted
- Barrel & Still, St Andrew St: Any 3 beers or ciders
- Mama Rita’s, Mayflower Street: A range of meals with a drink, including jerk chicken wrap with chips and chicken fried rice with coleslaw
- Foot Solutions, Royal Parade: 60ml foot and heel creams
- The Original Pasty House, Armada Way: Any regular pasty, any homemade cake and any 500ml soft drink
- Good Vibes Café, West Hoe: Full English breakfast (usually £7)
- The Hedgerow Hound, Union Street: Winter warmer soups with homemade bread
Find the most up-to-date list of offers on shop4plymouth.co.uk.
Any independent business wishing to participate in Fiver Fest in Plymouth should contact Holly.reynolds@citycentrebid.co.uk with details of their offer.
“We know Fiver Fest isn’t going to change the world”, said Chris Sands of Totally Locally. “But small changes in spending habits can really make a difference to our high streets. Just by diverting £5 of our weekly spend to local independents we give them a fighting chance to thrive. It’s a conversation worth having!”
The campaign has been running successfully in individual towns in the UK and abroad over the past seven years, but in 2019 the team at Totally Locally brought together towns across the country in on big Fiver Fest celebration. More than 40 towns joined in and the result was phenomenal with reports of new customers, people rediscovering shops they hadn’t been into in years and huge sales of £5 offers. Over the two consecutive Fiver Fests, the number of towns taking part has now reached more than 100.
It is for this reason that the fourth National Fiver Fest is taking place. This time it’s even more important than ever to support with how our world has changed during 2020. YouGov research has shown that 59% of shoppers have used more local shops to support them during lockdown.
For further information about the campaign, please see www.fiverfest.co.uk.