Horsham district shoppers urged to 'buy local, gift happy' this Christmas

Horsham District Council campaign, seeks to support local businesses during the run up to Christmas by encouraging residents to purchase a proportion of their gifts locally.

This year, organisers of events and initiatives in Horsham district who boost local purchasing opportunities have been invited to adopt the campaign’s branding in return for financial support towards their own marketing costs.

Keep an eye out for a series of promotions featuring participating events in the lead up to Christmas, with ideas on local festive activities you can get involved with.

The campaign aims to build awareness of the value of buying goods and services from locally based businesses to boost the overall local economy.

A recent survey on local shopping habits run by Visit Horsham, Horsham Business Initiative and Horsham District Council indicated that 21 per cent of the Horsham-based respondents will be conducting most of their Christmas gift shopping spend locally this year, with nearly 50 per cent of respondents saying that they will be carrying out most of their Christmas gift shopping in November.

Jonathan Chowen, leader of HDC and cabinet member for the local economy, said: “I would like to thank the local community partners, market operators and other event organisers who are helping us to spread this important message to buy local and support our businesses in these challenging times. It is great to hear so many people are already committed to buying their gifts locally.

“We have such a wonderful range of businesses in Horsham District to celebrate, offering a wide variety of unique gifts and experiences for Christmas. Let’s keep supporting them and our local economy.”

Through the Buy Local, Gift Happy campaign, residents are being reminded of all that Horsham District businesses have to offer in terms of unique gifts and experiences, both online and offline. This includes local markets, some of whom are introducing additional market dates for the festive season.

A Virtual Horsham shopping tool allows you to order products from local stores to click and collect or to be delivered. The portal makes it easy to continue to purchase from any local independent businesses that are trading online. Visit www.visithorsham.co.uk/virtual