Our Bury St Edmunds gift card holders urged to spend and support town centre businesses

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

Launched last year, the Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card has already seen close to £40,000 of cards sold.

Now, with more shops open and pubs and restaurants expected to serve indoors from May 17, it is hoped customers will use their gift cards when they visit.

A social media campaign to promote shopping with the card offers a chance to win a £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 retailer, but can be used in almost 60 outlets in the town centre.

Since re-opening last month, Abbeygate Street’s Javelin has seen a number of purchases with the card.

Jess Simms-Baalham, of Javelin, said: “The gift card has been a success in-store thus far, with a lot of customers eager to shop in a family-run business after months of lockdown.

“It seems shoppers are keen to get back to their local indies and support real-life people.”

Mark Cordell, Our Bury St Edmunds chief executive, 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, please find it, check out all 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.

The full amount on the Our Bury St Edmunds Card does not need to be spent all at once and it is simple to check online how much balance is left, where it has previously been spent and where it is accepted, with the number of businesses signing up growing all the time.

Customers can share where they have spent their 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 card.

For details or to buy gift cards, go to www.ourburystedmunds.com

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