Scotland Loves Local – Happy 5th Anniversary

Scotland Loves Local began on the 20th July 2020 as a marketing campaign and slogan to encourage local consumers to support their local businesses and town centres at a key point in the Covid crisis. My thoughts at the launch can be revisited here.

It was seen as part of the Scottish economy Covid recovery mechanisms by getting people to recognise that local businesses are a key part of the fabric of our communities and to build confidence in using local towns and shops as lockdown eased.

Whilst we all had high hopes that Scotland Loves Local would resonate and have an impact, the reality was far more powerful than we had anticipated. As I noted in July 2021, it ‘hit the spot’ with many people, consumers, communities and businesses. The energy around Scotland Loves Local, and the pump-priming Scottish Government investment awards in local recovery, developed into the Scotland Loves Local Awards (and more recently the Scotland Loves Local Week as part of our calendar – see details here and the 2024 winners here) and the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card.

The launch of the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card provided a mechanism for tying in local spend to local businesses and produced an income stream to aid local economic growth. By restricting spend to physical shops in each local authority area, internet leakage was reduced. The mechanism was used by some authorities, notably Glasgow, Aberdeenshire and Argyll and Bute to distribute funds to households allowing them more freedom of choice and enhancing local multiplier effects. Anyone can buy and spend a local gift card.

The initial conception of the Gift Card has developed, although the fundamentals remain in place (local spend and place, no internet sales), through corporate issuance, contactless (coming soon), diaspora focus (2025/6) and acceptance by national partners to enable for example transport and heritage spending (2025/6). The timeline demonstrates the development, and the reinforcement of localism generated.

Work is underway to continue to expand the base of retailers involved in accepting the gift card and to further promote the card. Kiosk card sales are now possible in Aberdeen and Glasgow. Aberdeenshire has been another trailblazer. Whilst the card is accepted across Scotland, some local authorities have opted not to invest in the full card package, often due to budget constraints. Those that have though, have seen considerable benefits and returns. It seems a false economy to me, not to use a simple mechanism that has been proven to keep spending local and support local businesses.

Five years ago, we did not anticipate that Scotland Loves Local would be such a success and broaden beyond its original conception. Its purpose though remains the same; building a movement to support local businesses and local communities by tying together local spend. It is the essence of community wealth-building which may soon become a statutory requirement. With the developments underway and the Scotland Love Local Awards and Week to look forward to in August, there is real anticipation for the next 5 years.

Why did you choose a .scot domain for this wonderful initiative?

The origin of Scotland Loves Local as a covid recovery mechanism and brand meant that it needed a distinct identity and web presence. There really was only one option that fitted the situation, making the domain lovelocal.scot. Using ,scot reinforced the message that was behind the campaign – Scotland and its localities are distinct, unique and deliver innovation and support for communities.

Professor Leigh Sparks, University of Stirling

For more on Scotland Loves Local see htttps://lovelocal.scot/

To register your own .scot domain, please visit https://domains.scot/