Totally Locally comes to Hungerford with Fiver Fest

Our beloved High Streets are so beleaguered by the seemingly unstoppable march of online shopping that independent traders are having to pull rabbits out of hats just to stay in business. We, the consumers, are to blame. We love to browse in our beautiful local shops but will buy online to save a few pounds.

The Hungerford Chamber of Commerce is seeking to buck the trend by taking part in the Totally Locally initiative, a nationwide strategy being adopted by small towns up and down the country to halt their decline and inject life into local businesses by making us appreciate what is on our doorsteps. It is calculated that if every adult in Hungerford spent just £5 per week in local shops and businesses instead of online or at the big chains, it would generate an extra £1.5m per year for the local economy and even create new jobs.

Hungerford traders are coming together as part of this new initiative and this weekend are launching their Fiver Fest with incredible £5 offers from participating outlets. Fiver Fest will be launched on the steps of the Town Hall by the Town Crier on Saturday, 23rd September.

Among the fantastic Fiver Fest bargains to be had are a gin and tonic kit from The Naked Grape, flowers at Martin and the Magpie, bone china mugs at Inklings and £5 off the new Jamie Oliver book at the Hungerford Bookshop. There will be scores of other fantastic offers to be had, you just need to take a walk down the high street and see for yourself.

Totally Locally Hungerford will initially focus on the High Street retailers, but a second phase will concentrate on raising the profile of some of the town’s other independent businesses. Chairwoman of the Hungerford Chamber of Commerce, Christina Finlay said in a statement: “Independent businesses and shops are the bedrock of our

communities, and when they thrive they create real jobs, cohesive towns and strong economies.” More than 20 UK market towns have been running the scheme and now Leek in Staffordshire, where the scheme started, is now on the top market towns list – something its retailers credit to Totally Locally.

The £5 offers which run into October will be shown in both participating shops and online at Totally Locally Hungerford, on Facebook and on Twitter at @totallocalhf