Support for local businesses in Scotland 'stronger than ever'

The Herald Scotland

7 days ago

As restrictions began to ease, its call to action and support for enterprises and community organisations was credited with helping to rebuild confidence among consumers, protecting the future of local businesses and saving jobs.
And the organisation which spearheads the drive says its legacy is a wave of "continued positive action", with people encouraged to act to create stronger, more successful and sustainable communities, as well as an initiative which is locking millions of pounds into local economies.
Having evolved from an emergency response campaign, Scotland Loves Local is now a broader mission to secure long-term economic prosperity for places - reminding people that the simple act of choosing local provides the foundation for encouraging innovation and investment in the future.
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Scotland's Towns Partnership (STP), the organisation which champions the role that towns have at the heart of national life and the economy, continues to lead the movement with support from the Scottish Government.
Professor Leigh Sparks, a retail academic who is also STP's chair, said: '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.
'Five years ago, we did not anticipate that Scotland Loves Local would be such a success and broaden beyond its original conception.
'Its purpose though remains the same - building a movement to support local businesses and local communities by tying together local spending.'
And it is one which supporters say could hold even greater importance with a Community Wealth Building Bill - including proposals which would place statutory requirements on local authorities to support local businesses - working its way through the Scottish Parliament.
Professor Leigh Sparks, Chair of Scotland's Towns Partnership (Image: Scotland's Towns Partnership) 'Scotland Loves Local is the essence of community wealth building,' added Prof Sparks, who was also author of the New Future for Scotland's Towns report for the Scottish Government in 2021, which led to the importance of towns and town centres being strengthened in national planning policies.
The success of the initiative in triggering community action in encouraging people to choose local led to the rollout of the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card, in partnership with Perth-based fintech Miconex.
Since its launch in 2021, it has driven more than £16 million in spending directly into local businesses across Scotland.
With work underway to develop that further - technologically, as well as targeting new Scottish diaspora worldwide to support Scotland's places and expanding its use across the transport network and among visitor attractions - STP is confident that its worth will continue to grow.
'The more we can think about how we use the card in more places - more different types of places - across Scotland, the more that reinforces the sense of place, but also how people tie into place,' Prof Sparks explained.
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'That's the important thing about the gift card and Scotland Loves Local.'
The 'love local' banner is one which many organisations have embraced to encourage people to enhance their towns as places to live, work, visit and play.
Members of Milngavie Business Improvement District (BID) were among those who were the faces of Scotland Loves Local's launch, telling their stories about the importance of choosing local.
Wendy Ross, owner of Ruby Red and Driftwood - a neighbouring gift shop and boutique in the town centre - was one of them.
Such was the support five years ago - and since - that she believes the town is in a stronger place than it was pre-pandemic.
• Milngavie business owner Wendy Ross outside Ruby Red gift store (Image: Scotland's Towns Partnership) 'With the Scotland Loves Local campaign, and our successful BID in Milngavie, encouraging people it's made people an awful lot closer,' said Ms Ross, who has been in business for 19 years.
'It feels more of a community now.
"With the hard work that we've all done, Milngavie is a much better place to come and visit than it was five years ago. The place is looking the best it ever has.'
Much of the work that is taking place to transform towns - including creating new homes, rejuvenating formerly derelict blights as part of community-led action and repurposing redundant retail units for leisure, hospitality and offices while encouraging more people into town centres - will be celebrated as part of Scotland Loves Local Week next month.
Prof Sparks, who is Professor of Retail Studies at the University of Stirling's Institute for Retail Studies, said: 'If you think about Scotland's towns, we spent 50 years destroying them in many ways by the way we disaggregated and decentralised a lot of the way we live, shop and work. We're now trying to rebuild that.
'If we look at individuals, community groups, local authorities and Business Improvement Districts, we have a network of people doing great things around our town centres to drive them forward.
'We should be encouraged with what's happening and we should be encouraging people more in the way that they do it.
'Town centres are great places. We've got massive innovation in lots of our town centres. We just need now to build on that, get more of it and get everyone pulling in the same direction.'
For more information about Scotland Loves Local and the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card visit www.lovelocal.scot.