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Pick up an Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card when shopping in town...

Last minute birthday or other celebration gifts will no longer be a headache for Bury St Edmunds shoppers who can now purchase the perfect present as easily as buying a lottery ticket.

Lorfords in Central Walk has become an outlet for the Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card, which allows people to load a sum of their choice online before giving it to the lucky recipient. The card can then be used in around 60 different businesses in the town centre to buy anything from fine art to fine dining or fashion to facials.

Until now the Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card from the Business Improvement District (BID) organisation has been available by ordering online and having it sent in the post, but with a number of retailers now offering the gift cards, they can be picked up, loaded with funds and given to the recipient in a matter of minutes. Shops currently holding stocks of the cards include Lorfords, Buy The Light and Vinyl Hunter with more expected to follow.

David Bell from Lorfords was keen to make the gift card available to customers because he feels it’s a perfect fit for his business, a traditional tobacconist, games gallery and newsagent shop and which also accepts the card. He said: “Customers often pop in for a lottery ticket, newspaper or bar of chocolate and now they can also take an Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card and that’s a birthday, thank you or other present solved at the same time. The recipient can then come back at their leisure and peruse our selection of games – or of course treat themselves to a gift from somewhere else in town.”

Mark Cordell, Chief Executive of Our Bury St Edmunds, said: “Loading the amount you want to give onto the card really could not be easier from the full instructions on the envelope. You avoid the postage charge for having the card sent to you and it’s ready to give to the recipient in just a few taps of your screen. Vinyl Hunter, Buy The Light and Lorfords are all great places to buy a present but also the kind of shops that are perfect for choosing your own gift if you’ve been given a card.

“Of course, cash loaded onto a card doesn’t have to be spent all in one place – the recipient of an Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card could enjoy a coffee or a beer somewhere with it while they decide exactly what kind of present to spend it on.”

The company behind the cards, Miconex, operates Mastercard-based Town and City Gift Cards across the country allowing spend to be locked into the local economy, from independent shops to big brands. Colin Munro, Managing Director of Miconex, commented: “With more businesses reopening in England following the latest easing of restrictions, buying an Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card as a present is an ideal way to support local traders. Multi- venue gift cards, like the Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card, represented 39.4% of all gift cards purchased in March 2021 because of the immense choice they offer, whilst over 25% of 25-44 year olds used gift cards as a mutually beneficial means of funding local establishments. Now you can buy the Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card directly from Lorfords, Buy The Light and Vinyl Hunter, getting the perfect gift, and supporting local businesses is easier than ever.”