WCC launches new ‘Buy and Eat Local’ campaign

Businesses encouraged to feature in 'Buy and Eat Local’ video

Warwickshire County Council is inviting retailers and food establishments to send in short video clips from their mobile phones to have their businesses featured for free, in a series of short films to help promote each town.

The videos are part of a new ‘Buy Eat Local’ campaign, led by the County Council and partners, encouraging residents to continue to support local retail and food businesses, as we start to move out of the strict lockdown period.

Supermarkets, corner shops, banks, pharmacies and petrol stations have been able to remain open during the coronavirus lockdown. But that list is set to grow.

This week, open air markets and car showrooms, who are COVID secure, are allowed to reopen, while from 15 June, non-essential stores in England will also be able to reopen. This includes shops selling clothes, toys, books and electronics, as well as tailors, auction houses, photography studios, and indoor markets.

Any retail business which is open and/or offering delivery or collection services to its customers can take part. They simply need to send a short video-clip - taken on a phone or tablet - showing their products or shop-front by the 10th June to: towns@warwickshire.gov.uk

The clips are being compiled into short promotional videos encouraging people to shop and eat locally. The campaign is being kicked off with a video highlighting retail businesses in Stratford-upon-Avon and can be found at www.warwickshire.gov.uk/buyeatlocal 

This ‘Buy and Eat Local’ webpage also provides links to any directories and facebook pages that have been produced by communities and town groups, to show businesses which are open, or due to open, in their local area as lockdown measures start to ease. This is a dynamic webpage which will evolve as the situation changes:

Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Leader of Warwickshire County Council says: "There are now so many ways we can back the Warwickshire businesses we know and love. Lots of our businesses have risen to the challenges of lockdown brilliantly and moved their processes online. Now, as lockdown starts to ease and more shops on our high streets start to re-open their doors, we need to continue to support them.

"These videos will encourage the people of Warwickshire to seek out and support their local independents - and keep supporting them into the future."

Lee Osborne, Development Manager for the Warwickshire and Coventry Federation of Small Businesses, said: “This is a really important campaign to boost local confidence. With the right support, we can make sure that local small businesses stay engaged with their local communities, have a wider customer reach and promote local products and services.”

The Federation of Small Businesses has produced a report entitled New Horizons which sheds light on the scale of small businesses’ efforts to help their communities during the current crisis. Among the recommendations that the report makes is that local authorities’ websites create an accessible database of local market traders and small businesses if they are available to deliver or sell locally.

To feature in the promotional video, send a short video clip of your business by 10th June to Towns@warwickshire.gov.uk

Tips for Clips

• Logo - try to include something with your logo on in the background
• Action - Be doing something related to your business such as loading a van, packing a bag, moving stock, putting stock on shelves etc….
• Sound - not needed! We will put background music on so just lots of smiles and waves to the camera please!
• PPE – make sure you are wearing it if required

For further help or advice on how to shoot your footage you can email towns@warwickshire.gov.uk or call 01926 738801