Campaign urges shoppers to look local this Christmas

"In Warwickshire, we are blessed with so many independent retailers who provide such a high level of service, quality and value, and Christmas is a crucial time for them."

A social media campaign to encourage Warwickshire’s residents to shop locally and support independent retailers this Christmas is set to return this year – and includes an endorsement from Father Christmas himself.

The Warwickshire Christmas campaign is being launched by Warwickshire County Council to highlight the quality businesses in the county’s towns and villages and to make people think twice before ordering all their gifts with much larger business online.

While businesses, organisations and local authorities will be getting behind the campaign across social media with the hashtag #WarwickshireChristmas, Father Christmas is also set to ask people to support their high street.

His voice will feature on a video showcasing some of the businesses around Warwickshire and their Christmas offerings.

The new campaign follows a similar support drive last year as businesses were dealing with Covid, which reached more than 70,000 people across social media.

Cllr Martin Watson, Portfolio Holder for Economy at Warwickshire County Council, said: “With pressures on household finances being incredibly high this year, many residents will be thinking very carefully about where they buy their Christmas gifts from.

"In Warwickshire, we are blessed with so many independent retailers who provide such a high level of service, quality and value, and Christmas is a crucial time for them. The increase in the cost-of-living has put a strain on many independent businesses, so we want to highlight as many as possible through our Warwickshire Christmas campaign and create a buzz around the county. So it’s fantastic to be launching this campaign and for Father Christmas to help us out too.

“We would urge people to get out into their local towns and support these businesses who are the lifeblood of our high streets by buying some of their Christmas gifts locally. And we’d also love it if residents shared their favourite businesses online with the hashtag #WarwickshireChristmas across social media – it all makes a difference.”

To follow the campaign, visit @WarksTN on Instagram or like Warwickshire Towns Network on Facebook.