Fiver Fest is back: UK towns hopeful for a summer of local spending

Visa and Totally Locally team up once again on initiative to support independent stores

• New research from Visa predicts a boost for British local businesses from staycationers, with two thirds of us (63%) planning a UK holiday.
• 61% of small businesses are optimistic that people going on staycations will shop with them this summer.
• Visa has teamed up with Totally Locally once again on Fiver Fest from 12^th to 26^th June with thousands of local businesses across the UK hosting £5 special offers.

10 June 2021: This Saturday, thousands of independent businesses in 104 towns across the UK will kick off a summer of local spending on the first day of Fiver Fest, a two-week celebration of local high streets organised by grassroots initiative Totally Locally and backed by Visa.

New research from Visa reveals the scale of opportunity to support the UK’s independent businesses this summer, both locally and on staycations. With almost two thirds of people surveyed (63%) planning a UK staycation, Visa is calling on holidaymakers to shop with independent businesses.

Summer boost expected for businesses in staycation hotspots

Support for local businesses remains high, with nine in ten consumers surveyed by Visa (89%) continuing to shop with independent businesses since lockdown eased. Small businesses across the UK are therefore seeing staycations this summer as an opportunity for increased trade, with 50% expecting a good summer of sales as their business is located in a staycation hotspot.

More towns join in on Fiver Fest to encourage consumer spend

With over half of local, independent businesses (55%) saying the summer season is usually their quietest time, Visa is once again teaming up with Totally Locally for ‘Fiver Fest’ and calling on consumers to shop local on their staycations this summer, both in store and online.

Thousands of independent shops, cafes and pubs in 104 towns across the UK are getting involved in ‘Fiver Fest’ from 12^th-26^th June, with many hosting special £5 offers to attract consumers to spend locally.

Dominic White, Head of Merchant Sales and Acquiring, UK & Ireland at Visa says: “With many of us planning staycations this summer, it’s a great moment to rediscover the fantastic towns and high streets across the UK and support the local businesses at the heart of them. We’re excited to team up with Totally Locally once again for Fiver Fest, a two-week celebration of community businesses. We are urging the nation to get behind its spirit by shopping local this summer to give our communities a much needed boost.”

Chris Sands, Founder of Totally Locally says: “We’re pleased to see how Fiver Fest has grown over the past couple of years and delighted to have Visa’s continued support again this year. We always talk about how diverting just £5 of your spending to small businesses can make a huge difference and if we all make this small change this summer, it will go a long way to reviving our communities. We hope that with Visa’s support we’ll have an even greater number of shoppers supporting Fiver Fest this June.”

The community benefits of local staycation spending

Supporting independent businesses can be a real boost to communities impacted by the pandemic. For every £5 we spend with a local business, research shows more than a third (£1.90) stays within the area.* 57% of local businesses also say that a £5 purchase from every staycationer to their community would help their business stay open in the long term.

Visa’s partnership with Totally Locally is part of its ongoing Where You Shop Matters campaign, a long-term commitment that recognises the essential role that small and independent businesses play in our communities. For more information, please visit www.fiverfest.co.uk to discover the list of towns taking part and how consumers can get involved.

-ENDS-

* Visa Spending Support Sum research commissioned by Visa and produced by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr).

• Research commissioned by Visa and conducted by Opinium Research from 21^st – 28^th May 2021.
• For consumer data points, the total sample size was 2,000 UK adults. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults aged 18+.
• For merchant data points, total sample size was 500 owners of companies with 0-49 employees.

About Visa

Visa is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network – enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of connected commerce on any device. As the world moves from analogue to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit our website (www.visa.co.uk), blog (https://www.visa.co.uk/visa-everywhere/blog.html), and @VisaUK.

About Totally Locally

Totally Locally was founded in Calderdale, West Yorkshire in 2010 by award winning brand and marketing expert Chris Sands.

There are now over 60 towns in the UK who have gone ‘Totally Locally’ and has reached as far as New Zealand, USA, and Australia. Chris decided to give away the campaign, after he was inundated with towns after the success of the campaign in Calderdale, where he lives. “I just wanted to see what would happen!” he said.

Totally Locally is a free kit for any town to use to promote their independent businesses using key marketing messages including ‘The £5 Message’, ‘The Magic Tenner’, ‘Fiver Fest’ and to encourage a new way of working together for independent businesses. Fiver Fest started as part of this but has now become its own event.

Totally Locally Towns have won High Street of The Year Award in Crickhowell in 2019, Hebden Bridge in 2018 and Belper in 2014. Other Totally Locally towns have won national and regional awards.

In 2015 Chris received an Honorary Doctorate from Staffordshire University for his work helping in the grassroots led regeneration of towns across the world.