Scotland Loves Local is five – and the need for people to #ChooseLocal and get behind the people and businesses in their community is as strong as ever.
What started as a marketing campaign to help communities and local businesses through the aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic has grown into a far wider movement.
The campaign’s core message remains the same: To think local first – to support shops, services, attractions and organisations in your home area whenever it is possible to do so.
Yet the reasons for doing so run far deeper than in that initial phase of work.
Choosing local was critical for communities as they navigated coronavirus restrictions and emerged from lockdown.
Yet it is also vital for the broader future of Scotland’s places – protecting jobs, businesses and services. With these comes the confidence to innovate and invest to reimagine our towns and town centres, to build community wealth, to create a stronger, fairer, more sustainable future for Scotland which has localism at its heart.
Scotland Loves Local has become the flag-flyer for all of that and more. It is community wealth building in action.
The need for us to do so is as relevant now as it was at the peak of national emergency in the summer of 2020.
Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP) has spearheaded Scotland Loves Local since its conception, with support from the Scottish Government throughout.
STP’s Chair, Professor Leigh Sparks, recalls that the initiative was seen, at that point, as an important part of Covid recovery, recognising that local businesses are a key part of the fabric of communities and the need to build confidence in using local towns and shops as lockdown eased.
He says: “Whilst we all had high hopes that Scotland Loves Local would resonate and have an impact, the reality was far more powerful than we had anticipated. It ‘hit the spot’ with many people, consumers, communities and businesses.”
Through high-profile media work – including television, radio, print and online marketing – millions of people across the country saw or heard the Scotland Loves Local message.
Our campaign told the stories of the people who were there for their communities when they were needed most – and why everyone must now be there for them.
It provided a platform for the likes of Scotland’s Improvement Districts and others to safely bring people back into businesses as they celebrated the personalities and individuality of their places.
The Scottish Government launched the Scotland Loves Local Fund, which saw millions of pounds of grants shared with hundreds of local projects to improve and promote local places and communities.
Ministers highlighted the fact that money which is spent locally will stay local for longer.
And that fact is the genesis for the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card – the tool by which people can think, choose and spend locally.
Partnering with Perth-based fintech Miconex, we launched the gift card in summer 2021, working alongside local authorities to help them use it to drive local economic growth in their areas.
The success of that initiative continues to grow, locking money into local economies.
Millions of pounds has been spent directly with local businesses, using regionally-branded gift cards across the country.
Prof Sparks says: “The launch of the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card provided a mechanism for tying in local spend to local businesses and produced an income stream to aid local economic growth. By restricting spend to physical shops in each local authority area, internet leakage was reduced.
“The mechanism was used by some authorities, notably Glasgow, Aberdeenshire and Argyll and Bute to distribute funds to households allowing them more freedom of choice and enhancing local multiplier effects. Anyone can buy and spend a local gift card.
“The initial conception of the Gift Card has developed, although the fundamentals remain in place (local spend and place, no internet sales), through corporate issuance, contactless (coming soon), diaspora focus (2025/6) and acceptance by national partners to enable for example transport and heritage spending (2025/6).
“Local authorities which have invested in the full gift card package have seen considerable benefits and returns.This is a simple mechanism that has been proven to keep spending local and support local businesses.”
Flashback: 85,000 Scotland Loves Local Glasgow Gift Card to help low-income households and boost business
The human impact of choosing local – and the positive direct difference – continues to be championed by Scotland Loves Local, through STP, every day.
People Make Places is the theme of this year’s Scotland Loves Local Week, which takes place from August 23 until August 30.
The achievements of people and organisations in creating better places will also be celebrated as part of the Scotland Loves Local Awards, nominations for which are open until Wednesday August 20th.
And the determination to grow the impact of Scotland Loves Local remains as strong as it was five years ago.
“Five years ago, we did not anticipate that Scotland Loves Local would be such a success and broaden beyond its original conception,” Prof Sparks adds.
“Its purpose though remains the same; building a movement to support local businesses and local communities by tying together local spend. It is the essence of community wealth building which may soon become a statutory requirement. With the developments underway and the Scotland Love Local Awards and Week to look forward to, there is real anticipation for the next five years.”
You can read more from Professor Leigh Sparks via his Stirling Retail blog.To find out more about becoming involved with Scotland Loves Local, please email [email protected]. More information about the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card can be found here.
