BUSINESSES across Fermanagh have been up in arms this week over concerns that locals are using their £100 high street voucher to buy Amazon vouchers from larger supermarkets like Asda and Tesco.
A representative from the Enniskillen Business Partnership (EBP) has now urged the public here in Fermanagh to use the scheme in order to support their local high street.
“It’s just scandalous,” the EBP representative said. “I just don’t understand it at all. It’s still extremely tough for local businesses and we’ve seen so many smiling faces return to the high street once again.
“Going to Asda or any other large supermarket for an Amazon voucher is beyond the pale completely and it’s sending the owners of Amazon up to the moon again when the whole ethos behind the high street scheme was to support local.”
While Enniskillen BID Manager, Noelle McAloon says such reports are “hugely disappointing” she believes that the vast majority of the Fermanagh public will act in the intended spirit of the scheme and support smaller shops.
“This scheme was to reinvigorate our high streets and the premise in our mind was to reintroduce people to the high street and it was a real bonus for those who never left the high street to treat themselves,” she told the Herald.
“With BID we see that our high street offers a high level of customer service, care and experience and that’s what we were excited about.
“We were excited about reintroducing people to the benefit of that hands-on approach, so it’s hugely disappointing if anyone would decide not to use the high street voucher on their high street, and we will continue to promote our shop local message.
“We have the best selling gift card in the whole of the UK and that’s incredible with the size of our town compared to the likes of Aberdeen, Perth and Cambridge – these are huge cities and we are blowing them out of the water with our gift card sales and that is because the people of Fermanagh promote and support this, so going on that I would have 100% faith that the local people of Fermanagh will support their high street.”
To read more.. Subscribe to current edition
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere