Aylesbury Town Council backs local business community with new ‘Support Local’ campaign

The Town Council has launched their new ‘Support Local’ campaign, encouraging the people of Aylesbury to choose small or independent, local businesses over the bigger chain brands.

Flags have been put up around the town to launch the campaign, acting as a symbol of the Town Council’s commitment to supporting local businesses and bringing communities together, as well as instilling a sense of pride in the people of Aylesbury for their local businesses.

The campaign consists of multiple initiatives aiming to showcase the local businesses Aylesbury has to offer, and encourage residents into the town centre rather than going elsewhere by offering a variety of free activities for the community over the summer. Activities include a summer shopping event with local traders, a free mobile farm for children, a photography competition with fantastic prizes, free guided heritage walks, as well as a best-dressed window competition for the businesses to take part in for a chance to win a 3-month ad campaign with Bucks Radio.

Cllr Richard Lloyd, Leader of Aylesbury Town Council outlined why initiatives such as these are so important: “We as a Town Council, are extremely proud to be launching our Support Local campaign – a campaign which, not only provides opportunities to come together and strengthen our residential communities, but creates real impact for our business community and the town as a whole. This is the real essence of what it means to be a Town Council, being the council closest to the community and ensuring all sectors of that community are supported.”

In recent years, the Town Council has adopted a key role in supporting Aylesbury’s businesses, and existing initiatives will be amplified as part of the campaign. These include showcasing eateries with great outdoor spaces as part of ‘Alfresco in Aylesbury’, highlighting the dog-friendly places to go around the town, and providing schemes for local businesses to increase footfall, such as the ‘borrow a book’ and ‘recycled coffee grounds’ schemes.

The Town Council has also become a strategic player in Aylesbury’s economic development, employing a Town Centre Manager to provide support, advice and promotion to the business community, hosting business networking events and facilitating roundtables for businesses to have their voices heard by Aylesbury’s MP Laura Kyrke-Smith. Laura has expressed her praise for Aylesbury Town Council for the Support Local campaign saying: “Local businesses are such an important part of our community, helping to make it the diverse and vibrant place that it is. We know that local businesses are far more likely to reinvest their earnings back into the community, and that’s why I’m so pleased that Aylesbury Town Council are launching their Support Local campaign.”

You can keep up to date with all events and initiatives as part of the Support Local campaign, on the Aylesbury Town Council website and social media.