There are just five weekends before Christmas. Scary, but true.
For most of our local independent shops and producers, this period typically accounts for around 30% of their annual sales – often more. If they do well, the profit ratio can be even higher than that. The survival of our small businesses (and we have a lot across the constituency), depends on them having a good Christmas.
When you spend money with a local independent retailer, between 63 and 70% of what you spend goes straight back into the local economy. When you buy something from a national company, that figure reduces to about 40%.
What we spend locally is actually even more important than those figures imply. The ‘local multiplier effect’ means that every £10 spent locally is actually worth up to £50 in the local economy – because it is spent and circulated locally.
Let’s imagine that every adult across the constituency chooses to spend just £10 of their Christmas budget in a local shop – that would represent an extra £760,000 going into local businesses and communities. Taking the local multiplier effect into account, the consequence of that spend is more like an extra £3.8m circulating locally. Now imagine what that would mean for our local economy if that happened every month… an extra £45m a year.
Now imagine if people made that choice every week. Spending £10 each week with a small, local business rather than a national chain or big online retailer, would mean nearly £200m being spent and re-spent in the local economy every year across Dursley, Wotton, Stonehouse, Stroud, Nailsworth, and the villages. The effect would be transformational.
Those are the (very rough) numbers. Let’s think about what they might mean.
Stable, profitable small businesses employ more staff, pay them better and invest more in the local economy. They help create sustainable local communities where people enjoy living connected, secure lives, with good local services. Strong communities are better able to withstand the negative effects of national and international economic, political and social setbacks – but remain able to take advantage of the positives. They also mean that we have less impact on the environment – it’s good for the climate.
These are very difficult times, and we are vulnerable to changes in national policy and international trade. But we are not helpless, and we can make a difference.
Choosing to spend more of our money locally is an excellent place to start.
