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Permalink Reply by Nell Riches on December 7, 2014 at 21:12

Without wanting to appear the curmudgeon, I did find it baffling an amusing that this initiative is trade marked and run by American Express. I would wager less than ten per cent of small businesses could afford to accept their credit cards...I certainly know that we can't. That said, all curmudgeonly thoughts aside it really did and continues to make a big difference to small businesses in a very tough climate!

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Permalink Reply by Richard McKeever on December 7, 2014 at 21:52

Thanks Nell I take the point entirely. Personally I much preferred the campaign that was running over the last couple of years under the name "Shop Local Saturday" This started as a ground-up initiative without any funding or backing (we carried an item on it last year).

Now it appears the idea has been adopted by an Amex backed campaign. Whilst the greater marketing budget has increased visibility - and reached more people - it does feel strange that there is a global corporation behind a drive to get people to shop locally!

There was some interesting work done a couple of years ago by the New Economics Foundation (nef) They suggest the issue is not so much about the limited money within a neighbourhood,  but more about what consumers, public services and businesses do with that money. Too often it is spent on services with no local presence, and so immediately leaves the area. Part of the recommendations are to spend locally in cash - not on credit (or Amex!). The nef "Plugging the Leaks" website spells out the details of how to re-generate a local economy from within.

In any event the principle - of spending money with independent traders that you can walk to from home  - is one to support ... and not just on only one Saturday in each year! 

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Permalink Reply by Mat Riches on December 7, 2014 at 22:54

Ha ha....Nell must have been using my lap top Richard, as she was logged in not me! I'd haveput more spelling mistakes in there if I'd known it was in Nell's name.

That really is interesting reading on the NEF website and very inspiring for a local business. And I wasn't seeking to undermine Small Business Saturday, just chuckling at a small irony about AMEX. Most importantly of all though is how buzzing Bowes Park has been this weekend....noy just for Small Business Saturday but also Myddleton Road Market Sunday. Now that really was local!

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Permalink Reply by Richard McKeever on December 9, 2014 at 23:14

Thank Mat (er and/or .... Nell?)
... absolutely agree that Bowes Park was buzzing over the weekend for the market and small Biz/Shop-Local Saturday - and the smartest local traders were quite rightly making the most of it too.

I'd be the first to argue that these events have a community impact - alongside the economic effect. Neighbours out together taking over "our high street" meeting and chatting - enjoying the community garden and the gym etc. However the economic impact of money spent locally is vital for the sort of local businesses we want to support.

There is another dimension to this local spend - how official bodies such as the local council allocates funding and what choices they make about where to purchase - or commission official contracts... also what this generates in return.

This bigger spending could really accelerate the economic impact of local spending - so I've been interested in the "Enfield Experiment" which has been reported in the Guardian over the last few months. An article on the Guardian website today by Aditya Chakrabortty identifies that Enfield council has "started asking big businesses, such as utility firms, what they had done for Enfield recently" and is making spending decisions based on the response.

Taken together these active economic choices - whether by individual shoppers or large organisations will determine which areas of the UK are just about surviving ... and which are thriving.  Let's hope Bowes Bark continues to buzz!

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