PAYPOINT CALLS FOR ‘BETTER LOCAL LIVING'

- Campaign launched today to support local communities in Britain -

The Better Local Living campaign launched today urges local communities to support community stores and drive greater community spirit. To launch Better Local Living, the campaign’s creator, PayPoint, has investigated Britain’s attitudes to the concept of community and the communities they live in.

The results show that only 41% of British people think there is community spirit where they live. However, four out of five of survey respondents (80%) think that a local store is important in developing greater community spirit and, crucially, two-thirds of Britons (67%) believe local community stores need more support than ever in today’s tough financial climate.

Building from today, the campaign will work with PayPoint’s 22,000 retailers in Britain to support them in being successful retailers – delivering the products and services that today’s UK consumer wants. The Better Local Living campaign will also work with trade bodies, debt charities and business organisations to help develop stronger communities in the UK.

In addition, through the Better Local Living campaign, PayPoint is seeking cross-party support to recognise the crucial role that local community stores play in British life. Lying at the very heart of the community, they serve as a social lifeline for many – with many hundreds of thousands of people across the UK using their store to meet people and find out what is going on locally. Indeed, thankfully, more than a quarter (27%) of Britons recognised that if they do not use their local stores, many will go out of business for good.

In support of the Better Local Living Campaign is Shadow Business Minister, Mark Prisk MP, said: “We all need to support our local shops, especially now. They provide variety, quality and personal service so important for our local communities. The simple truth is: use them or lose them.”

Dominic Taylor, chief executive of PayPoint, commented: “With Better Local Living, we are launching a campaign that aims to support the lifeblood of communities – the local convenience store. We are confident that the success of local retailing can assist in securing the future of sustainable communities in many parts of the country. With help from politicians, trade bodies and business organisations, we can make sure that our small shops continue to be an enormous asset to peoples’ lives and the communities they live in.”

While the majority of UK consumers use local stores as a convenient place to top up on a weekly shop (63% of consumers) or buy a newspaper (42%), they also go there for many other purposes, such as topping up their mobile phones (12%), paying household bills (9%) or advertising goods and services (4%) – and, of course, playing the Lottery.

Today’s community store offers a much broader range of services than ever before, from bill payments, mobile top-up, cash savings plans, prepaid credit cards, bus tickets, council tax, rent, parcel collection and delivery, through to money transfer and paying for online purchases – delivered at times convenient to the modern lives of British communities.

Peter Brooker, head of corporate affairs at PayPoint, added: “The results of our research show that the idea of community and belonging to a community that enriches their lives is important to the majority of people across the UK – with some interesting regional variations. For example, Londoners are far less interested in being part of a community. We also value and want to support our community stores, which are a vitally important constituent of what makes a community. Our hope with Better Local Living is to make our small shops as well supported as possible and to continue to deliver a range of products and services that are valued by all.”

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Enquiries:
PayPoint Press Office
01707 600356
peterbrooker@paypoint.co.uk

Tom Nutt / Charlotte Pusey
The Communication Group
020 7630 1411/07775 686 706
paypoint@thecommunicationgroup.co.uk