Monday, 15 November 2021 / Published in Uncategorized
Business. Jobs. Community. Environment. Keep it local.
Throughout these unprecedented times of economic challenges, there is a positive if you look close enough…
Local communities and businesses have developed a new appreciation to support each other and prioritise buying local.
In Lancashire, MY Total Office Solutions have been at the heart of a national campaign to ‘Keep It Local’.
Darren commented: “We are part of a national group of independent office products resellers that actually launched the campaign just before the pandemic started.”
“Collectively we have the national buying power to compete with any multi-national, but we were finding that the local small office products supplier was not getting a fair crack of the whip when it came to contracts for larger businesses and government organisations.”
“This is despite the government outlining plans that by 2022 one third of it spend on goods and services will be with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).”
The idea of buying local has been gathering momentum in recent years, but with the Covid-19 outbreak the landscape changed suddenly and dramatically.
Most retail businesses had to completely shut down; yet still they adapted their ways to service the community with local drop-offs, safe pick-up points, newly built websites to communicate ordering processes, taking orders over social media.
They had to adapt to survive, and in doing so, these local suppliers became the lifeblood of the local community.
Other businesses still permitted to operate, albeit with restricted travel and furloughed staff, continued adapting the way they operated with skeleton teams; sourcing and supplying vast amounts of PPE equipment, and in our case, developing affordable print and scan solutions, and laptop bundles to help people home school and work from home.
“The support from the local area has been heart-warming” concluded Darren, “which has enabled us to stay afloat through the pandemic.”
“Now as we head back towards ‘normality’ it is essential that we do not forget about the local businesses who have helped keep the country ticking over, by getting behind our ‘Keep It Local’ campaign and put supporting local at the top of your purchasing priority list.”
“Together we can change the buying habits of a nation and grow our local economy by increasing spend in our communities and taking us into a healthier and wealthier new era.”
Local communities and businesses have developed a new appreciation to support each other and prioritise buying local.
In Lancashire, MY Total Office Solutions have been at the heart of a national campaign to ‘Keep It Local’.
Darren commented: “We are part of a national group of independent office products resellers that actually launched the campaign just before the pandemic started.”
“Collectively we have the national buying power to compete with any multi-national, but we were finding that the local small office products supplier was not getting a fair crack of the whip when it came to contracts for larger businesses and government organisations.”
“This is despite the government outlining plans that by 2022 one third of it spend on goods and services will be with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).”
The idea of buying local has been gathering momentum in recent years, but with the Covid-19 outbreak the landscape changed suddenly and dramatically.
Most retail businesses had to completely shut down; yet still they adapted their ways to service the community with local drop-offs, safe pick-up points, newly built websites to communicate ordering processes, taking orders over social media.
They had to adapt to survive, and in doing so, these local suppliers became the lifeblood of the local community.
Other businesses still permitted to operate, albeit with restricted travel and furloughed staff, continued adapting the way they operated with skeleton teams; sourcing and supplying vast amounts of PPE equipment, and in our case, developing affordable print and scan solutions, and laptop bundles to help people home school and work from home.
“The support from the local area has been heart-warming” concluded Darren, “which has enabled us to stay afloat through the pandemic.”
“Now as we head back towards ‘normality’ it is essential that we do not forget about the local businesses who have helped keep the country ticking over, by getting behind our ‘Keep It Local’ campaign and put supporting local at the top of your purchasing priority list.”
“Together we can change the buying habits of a nation and grow our local economy by increasing spend in our communities and taking us into a healthier and wealthier new era.”