From today, the south Nottinghamshire village of Ruddington is joining in with ‘The Totally Locally Fiver Fest’, a campaign to highlight independent retail’s contribution to the high street economy. This is a national celebration of small businesses and shops, and is the latest campaign by the award-winning Ruddington Village Centre Partnership (RVCP) to boost local trade. The ‘Fiver Fest’ runs in the village for a fortnight from Saturday 15th February to the end of the month.
Being part this UK-wide initiative was suggested to fellow Ruddington traders by The Bottle Top‘s Alex Preston, who is on the committee of RVCP. She quickly heard back from numerous independent retailers in the village who were keen to get involved and so took the necessary steps to organise the scheme. She has set up a dedicated ‘Totally Locally Ruddington’ Facebook page to help promote it.
Alex explains: “Ruddington businesses which take part will be offering special £5 offers over a two week period to show the quality, value and diversity of what they sell, as well as to say a huge thank you to the Ruddington community that supports them.”
Participants include Aveda at Eleven, The Black Cat Café, The Frame Breakers pub, Grange News & Bakery, Jasper’s Café, Perkin’s Hardware, Philo’s Espresso Bar & Eatery, Phoenix Flowers, Ruby Rae clothing, Ruddington Fish Bar, Sweetie Boutique, The Old Bakehouse, The White Horse Inn and, of course, The Bottle Top on High Street. All will be displaying a special poster to show they’re taking part by offering something fabulous for a fiver.
“The Totally Locally £5 message is that people spending £5 per week in their local community has a massive impact on their high street and local economy” says Alex.
Mark Pinks of RVCP adds: “We are excited to sponsor and drive this campaign, aligning precisely with the core values of the group’s aims – encouraging our community to rediscover what’s on offer in our village centre, and the amazing independent shops, cafés and pubs that we have. Research by Totally Locally has shown that if every adult in Ruddington spent just £5 a week at our local independent shops and businesses instead of online or at the supermarket, £1.4m could go into our local economy every year – meaning more jobs, a better high street, and an even more enjoyable place to be!”
RVCP won the Community Group of the Year in the Celebrating Rushcliffe Awards 2019 organised by Rushcliffe Borough Council. Since its launch in February 2019, the monthly Ruddington Village Market has attracted over 10,000 shoppers. Together with a shoppers Loyalty card and the partnership with NCT Bus Company’s ‘Ruddy Good Day Out’, the village is rapidly becoming a destination village for visitors from as far away as Leicester, Melton Mowbray, Hucknall and Derby.