'Celebrate an Independent Christmas'

The Sidmouth Herald and the Sidmouth Chamber of Commerce are promoting



The Christmas lights went on this evening, with late-night shopping promised Friday 6th December:
Event Hub - for events in East Devon, Exeter, West Dorset & South Somerset

Celebrate an Independent Christmas

Why are Sidmouth doing this? The aim is to encourage families to visit more of their local independent shops in the Pre-Christmas period. It is hoped to drive footfall and subsequently sales to independent shops.

When would it take place? It would start on Saturday 16th November, conveniently the day after the Christmas Lights have been switched on until Christmas Eve, the last trading day.

What is the cost for traders to participate? We are asking for £50 per trader (20) first come first served.

Further details and how to sign up? 

email info@sidmouthchamber.co.uk in the first instance. Claire Jenkins (who works for Fields) will then meet with you to explain in more detail.  Claire@fieldsofsidmouth.co.uk or 01395 515124.

Sidmouth Chamber of Commerce - Celebrate an Independent Christmas

This is part of a national campaign to encourage us to shop locally over the festive season:

Introducing an Independent Christmas

The 'Celebrate an Independent Christmas' campaign is in its 2nd year.

The campaign focuses on encouraging families within the community to visit more of their local, independent shops in the pre-Christmas period, to explore and to hopefully divert some of their Christmas budget away from the online giants and major chains back into the tills of the local shops. This will be achieved by inviting them to take part in a 'Christmas Shopping Challenge'.

The campaign aims to drive footfall to the independent shops, and then asks the retailers who take part to commit to make the most of that - to deliver great service, to do what they do best, and to engage with those who enter their shop. Whilst the campaign can't promise increased sales, certainly many retailers will benefit from a sales uplift during the campaign period. However, the focus is not exclusively on increasing sales but is also about generating increased awareness of local businesses.

In addition, the Christmas Shopping challenge is a great way for the local business community to work together.

Christmas Shopping Challenge!

The 'Celebrate an Independent Christmas' has developed the 'Christmas Shopping Challenge' in order to create a fun activity for local retailers and their customers. However, through the fun aspects it is hoped that by reconnecting consumers with local traders will in turn have a positive social and economic impact in their locale.

The campaign is a nationwide effort to improve footfall to our high streets, towns and village centres, to increase consumer confidence, and to boost retail sales. 

The campaign was founded in 2012 by Clare Rayner, The Retail Champion, and is part of the ongoing Support for Independent Retail campaign

Helping Consumers Find Independent Shops

To help consumers find Independent Shops near them we have created a searchable directory of UK independent retailers. The directory makes it easy for shoppers to find their local independent shops, especially important in the run up to Christmas!

It is FREE to list your business, allows consumers to search by town and postcode, provides regular social media promotion for retailers with a Twitter account and the directory is also open to online only retailers. In fact any business that primarily serves the consumer can get a listing, that includes shops, cafes, restaurants and salons.

With 1000's of visitors each month to the directory looking for independent shops to source their purchases from, listing your business could help provide a steady supply of new ideal customers.

Check out our independent shop directory

Pledge Your Support for Independent Retail in 2013

The CLES (Centre for Local Economic Strategies) researched the value of a £1 spent locally - the results were compelling, sufficient to convince most people that when they shop locally they are genuinely having a positive impact on their community! 

They discovered that for every £1 spent locally around 50p - 70p of that money recirculates back into the local economy. For the same £1 spent out of town or online only 5p trickles back to the local community. 

When people appreciate the impact that their choice of where to spend can have we believe that more people will make more effort to spend more with local independent businesses.

That's why we want you to Pledge your Support for Independent Retail in 2013

Celebrate an Independent Christmas - Indie Xmas Campaign
Celebrate an Independent Christmas, join a Christmas Shopping Crawl near you!
Towns support 'celebrate an Independent Christmas'
.
.
.