Nicola Hutchinson

In this guest blog, Nicola Hutchinson, Programme Officer for Scotland Loves Local explains the rationale and benefits of the gift card which has already been used by 1,600 businesses in Glasgow.

The ground-breaking Scotland Loves Local Gift Card launched in 2021 as a gift to the entire community. And it's a gift that keeps on giving.

With gift card programmes unique to each region of Scotland, the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card is effectively a local currency, with limitless potential to boost local economies and businesses, and maximise value for the whole community.

The gift cards have been used to drive consumer spend to towns and cities across Scotland, provide support for a variety of sectors and successfully disburse funds to people in need through cost-of-living support schemes.

Lisa Ferguson

One of the most innovative uses of the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card has been in the corporate sphere, with many organisations choosing to replace or supplement existing staff reward schemes with the Card as a community-centred alternative - locking money into the local area whilst celebrating employee achievements and long-service awards.

In fact, Scottish companies making this local, sustainable choice injected more than £300,000 into regional economies across the country last year by rewarding and incentivising staff with the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card.

This trend is growing outside of Scotland too. Across the UK, 81% of companies offer non-cash rewards to staff. What's more, it's a popular employee incentive. Research undertaken by Scotland Loves Local last year found that nearly three-quarters of staff prefer a multi-store gift card, rather than other types of staff reward.

With a vast range of businesses registered to accept the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card, your team can enjoy the very best that their local area has to offer - great days out, a trip to the hairdressers, fantastic food and drink, and hundreds of independent and high street retailers. Grocery stores and supermarkets are also widely accepting the gift card, which can give your staff a helping hand during the cost-of-living crisis.

Even better, through HMRC's Trivial Benefits Allowance, you can gift all your employees with the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card tax free!

The Scotland Loves Local Glasgow Gift Card, which receives funding from the city council, is well established with over 1600 businesses in the city signed up to accept the card. Organisations in Glasgow are now being encouraged to consider the card as part of their staff reward scheme. Companies based in Glasgow have an opportunity to find out more about the Scotland Loves Local Glasgow Gift Card in a free webinar hosted by the card provider, leading Scottish fintech Miconex, on 29 March at 16.00. You can book your place here.

The card is a way of living the values of the wider Scotland Loves Local campaign, encouraging people to help build stronger, more sustainable communities by supporting the people and businesses around them to think, choose and spend locally.

The Scotland Loves Local Gift Card doesn't just reward your staff. It also rewards local businesses across Scotland, and the local economies they underpin. 80% of employees who have received a gift card through work rewards or incentives have made a specific trip into their local town or city to spend their card - meaning that employers who support the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card are also making a tangible difference locally, contributing to CSR efforts.

You can find out more about the ground-breaking Scotland Loves Local Gift Card, and how you can be a part of it, at: www.scotlandgiftslocal.com

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