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Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card holders urged to Spend It...

Shoppers and diners in Bury St Edmunds are being encouraged to support a new ‘Spend It’ campaign which could see thousands of pounds pledged to the local economy ringing through the tills of town centre businesses.

The Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card, which was launched last year, has already seen close to £40,000-worth of cards purchased and with many more shops now open and pubs and restaurants expected to serve indoors from May 17, it’s hoped customers will be using their cards when they visit. A social media campaign to promote shopping with the card offers a chance for someone to win a further £100 card.

The Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card from the Business Improvement District (BID) organisation works in the same way as buying a gift card for any individual retailer, but can currently be used in almost 60 different outlets in the town centre from boutiques to bike shops, and cafes to cinemas. Since re-opening in April Javelin on Abbeygate Street has seen a number of purchases made with the card. Jess Simms-Baalham from Javelin Retail said: “The gift card has been a success in-store thus far with a lot of customers eager to shop in a family run, local business after months of lockdown. As lockdown drove all non-essential retail online it seemed to signal the death of the high street. Instead the opposite is happening now! It seems shoppers are keen to get back to their local indies and support real-life people. Spending the gift card with us keeps the community spirit alive!”

Mark Cordell, Chief Executive Officer at Our Bury St Edmunds, said: “The Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card is a fantastic way to support local businesses, but for businesses to benefit, we need gift cards to be spent. If you’ve bought or been given an Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card recently, please find it, check out all of the places accepting the gift card and get out and enjoy spending it. It has been a tough year for businesses, and they will appreciate your custom more than you could know.”

The new Spend It campaign from the company behind the card, Miconex, is part of its client success programme, helping places to maximise success for their programmes with multi-channel marketing campaigns. Colin Munro, Managing Director of Miconex, commented: “Customers have taken the first step and purchased a local gift card, now is the time to spend it. A Town and City Gift Card is a piece of potential. The potential to support a small, independent business who has struggled through the last year. The potential to keep money locked into where you live and the potential to safeguard jobs, livelihoods and the vibrancy of where you live.

“Your local gift card can stay in your bag, wallet or in a drawer at home, or it can be turned into drinks with friends at your local, a new outfit for the warmer weather to come or a long awaited haircut. Now is the time to get out and spend locally.”

The full amount on the Our Bury St Edmunds Card does not need to be spent all at once, and it’s simple to check online how much balance is left, where it’s previously been spent and where it’s accepted, with the number of businesses signing up growing all the time. Customers are invited to share where they have spent their local gift card, by liking or following Town and City Gift Cards on Twitter or Facebook and tagging the company on their photo, to be put into a prize draw to win a £100 Town and City Gift Card of their choice.

The popularity of Town and City Gift Cards, which are Mastercard-backed for added security, is attributed to the rise in use of multi-store gift cards and local shopping. The Gift Card and Voucher Association found 76.3% have purchased a gift card in the last three years and uncertainty in UK retail has increased the popularity of multi-store gift cards, at 39.4% of gift cards in March 2021 compared to 32.4% in December 2020.