The Best of Preston
At the time of writing we are in a national lockdown due to Covid-19, however one thing is for sure that once this is all over, Preston will come back stronger than ever
Preston is already a great place to live and work. With a vast array of retail outlets, a market hall, museum, many eateries and a range of events, there is no reason to go anywhere else.
Christmas 2020 will certainly be different for everybody, but it’s important that we try and shop local wherever we can to support the economy.
Normally a busy night and highlight of the event calendar is the Christmas lights switch on which on 21st November, like many others around the country will be a virtual one and while many other attractions are going on line, hopefully this will only be temporary and we can get back to some normality.
Preston Bid is getting behind local businesses and coming up with some great initiatives to encourage shoppers back into the city. The UK Gift Card Market is worth £5.6 billon per year and Preston wants its share and so is launching its very own local currency gift card to help with the recovery of the centre.
Several businesses have already signed up to the scheme and others such as local shops, restaurants, cafes, bars, leisure attractions, beauty services and hotels are now being urged to sign up to accept the card, for free, thanks to the BID funding the scheme.
The concept is simple, the customer purchases a pre-loaded gift card from the card’s bespoke website, between £10 and £200, which they can then use themselves, or give as a present to a colleague, friend or family. The card can then be spent just like any other card allowing the customer to spread their spend across as many participating businesses as they wish, but they will only be able to be spend it in the city centre.
Mark Whittle, BID manager, said: “It’s important that we work with loyal local people to keep spend circulating in their city centre economy, whilst also providing a wide choice of where to spend their well-earned money.
The Preston Gift Card will give shoppers a powerful alternative to existing national cards, especially that are tied to one outlet, and will be key factor in encouraging people to continue supporting their local businesses, in the recovery from this crisis, and beyond.”
Despite being a city, Preston is a community that is pulling together, whether it’s celebrating the Pride of Preston, volunteers working in the city or supporting restaurants offering a take away service, we can still all do our bit to ensure we don’t lose these vital services in Preston.
