- For every £1 spent with a small or medium-sized business 63p stayed in the local economy, compared to 40p with a larger business.
- 48% of people choose to shop local because of the people that work there, with 25% of shoppers knowing the staff by name – and vice versa too. (Source AXA)
- Pound for pound of spending in smaller independent ‘local food’ outlets supports three times the number of jobs than at outlets of national grocery chains
- One fifth of shoppers use independent stores for all or part of their main shopping (Source: CPRE)
- National supermarket chains dominate grocery spending (77% of all main shopping trips) (Source: CPRE)
- Traditional specialist stores have shrunk from around 120,000 in the 1950s to around 18,000 in the late 2000s (Competition Commission)
RESOURCES
Totally Locally are a campaign group championing independent businesses - totallylocally.org
Shop locally for seasonal produce at www.bigbarn.co.uk
Building a new economy for people, The New Economics Foundation are a people-powered thinktank http://neweconomics.org
Win £100 cash and a subscription
Take a photo of you in your favourite local shop and post it with #greenparentmag and #lovelocal. Competition closes at midnight on 27th November. We’ll choose a winner to receive £100 cash and a subscription to The Green Parent magazine on 29th November.