Hundreds of local businesses have joined forces to encourage everyone to explore East Renfrewshire.
Enterprises in Barrhead, Clarkston and Giffnock all feature on an increasingly popular app to help boost the region’s economy.
Explore East Ren has been developed jointly by the All About Barrhead, I Love Clarkston and Giffnock Village Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), working with digital towns hub software firm Loqiva.
And the collaborative spirit which has brought them together to unlock the opportunity has been highlighted as a model which BIDs and other organisations nationally could follow.
Its success has been highlighted as part of Scotland Loves Local Week, which runs until Saturday (June 20) and is encouraging everyone to fly the flag for local businesses.
Explore East Ren features businesses, trails, events and local experiences which give people new ways to discover their communities and support local businesses of all kinds. Every business can log in to its own dashboard to publish events and offers and send notifications directly to residents, putting even the smallest enterprise in direct contact with its customers.
It features nearly 400 businesses and has attracted more than 1,500 downloads since launching.
Jenny Dunlop, who manages each of the East Renfrewshire BIDs, has been working with all of the improvement districts on the app.
She said: “BIDs encourage people into our town centres and help local businesses flourish. Explore East Ren gives businesses another opportunity to connect with customers and promote what makes them unique.
“It’s been fantastic to see businesses engaging with the platform in different ways – from advertising events and offers to taking part in trails and community activity that encourages people to spend more time exploring locally.”
One of the app’s standout features is Barrhead’s expanding heritage trail, allowing users to walk through the town centre while viewing archive photographs and stories showcasing the area’s industrial past and historic shopfronts.
People can compare present-day locations with historic images sourced from local archives, bringing Barrhead’s history to life interactively.
As part of Scotland Loves Local Week, businesses in Barrhead will help promote the trail through photography and displays featuring historic images of the shops along the route.
Meanwhile, Clarkston BID is using the app to host its town centre awards, allowing customers to vote for their favorite local businesses through the platform’s interactive survey feature.
In Giffnock, the app is supporting activity linked to the arrival of the Scotties in the City trail in June, alongside food and retail stores, celebrating the area’s strong independent business scene.
Jenny added: “Working with Loqiva has been fantastic. They’ve been incredibly supportive throughout the process and have really helped us shape the platform around the needs of our towns and businesses.
“The app continues to evolve and gives us an exciting opportunity to feature everything East Renfrewshire has to offer.”
Loqiva Chief Executive Marcus Chidgey said: “What the East Renfrewshire BIDs have built together is exactly the model we hoped Loqiva would enable. Three districts pooling resources to give nearly 400 businesses a single place to be discovered is far more powerful than any one town going it alone. Explore East Ren shows what happens when communities back their own high streets, and we’re proud to be the platform behind it.”
Explore East Ren is available to download from Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
Kimberley Guthrie, STP’s Chief Officer, said: “It’s fantastic to see the BIDs in East Renfrewshire working collaboratively to make the investment in the app possible. So much can be achieved when organisations of all kinds join forces for common good.
“Explore East Ren is a perfect way of flying the flag for local businesses, which is exactly what we’re encouraging everyone to do this week and throughout the whole year.”
Scotland Loves Local is the drive for people to build stronger, more sustainable futures for their community by supporting the businesses in their area, potentially injecting millions of pounds into regional economies.
It is spearheaded by Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP), the organisation which champions the critical part that towns and local neighbourhoods play in creating a stronger, fairer, wealthier Scotland, with support from the Scottish Government.
