Orkney shoppers urged by MSP to keep it local

Consumers in Orkney are being encouraged by Highlands and Islands MSP Maree Todd to support the county’s 1490 small business by shopping locally.

The SNP MSP held a surgery in Kirkwall on her most recent visit to Orkney yesterday, Thursday.

She said: “Shopping locally is good for communities, good for the environment and great for the local economy, supporting 6780 workers in small businesses in Orkney.

“Today’s market provides many new challenges for retailers, including the move to online shopping as well as Brexit-fuelled inflation and more expensive imports that translate into higher prices at the checkout.

“Given these challenges, wherever possible, we should all seek to support Orkney’s huge variety of brilliant independent, locally run businesses. There are so many great shops along the streets of Kirkwall, Stromness, and in every parish and island, not forgetting the many traders on Hatston and Garson industrial estates.

“Each small business offers something unique and special, and it is important that we support them and help our local economy to thrive in a market that is increasingly dominated by the big players.”

The encouragement comes as part of an effort to highlight The Scottish Government’s commitment to supporting businesses in Scotland, including retailers, by providing the government says is the most competitive package of non-domestic rates reliefs anywhere in the UK in their 2018/19 budget.

This includes the Small Business Bonus scheme that the Scottish Government says has already saved smaller firms £1.5bn, lifting 100,000 business premises out of rates altogether.