Until 20 June, the Scotland Loves Local campaign is giving away £500 worth of Perth City & Towns Gift Cards as part of its Great Gift Card Giveaway, a push to drive footfall and spending into independent high streets across the country. More than 50 businesses in Perth and the surrounding towns are signed up, including venues as varied as Perth Theatre Cafe, Malts & Spirits, The Shoe Shop of Auchterarder, and Synergy Cycles.
Scotland Loves Local is backed by the Scottish Government and delivered through Scotland's Towns Partnership, the body charged with making Scottish town centres economically viable in the long term. The campaign runs annually and has become one of the more effective levers for directing consumer attention toward local independents rather than online retail giants or out-of-town retail parks.
The gift card model matters here. According to Scotland's Towns Partnership, local gift card schemes keep spending circulating within a defined area, meaning money spent at one participating business is far more likely to be respent at another local shop or venue. Research from Miconex, the company behind many of Scotland's town gift card schemes, shows that local gift card holders typically spend significantly above the card value when they redeem, generating a halo effect for the whole local economy.
For SMEs already participating in the Perth scheme, the giveaway is essentially free marketing. The campaign generates social media activity, local press coverage, and footfall from people who might otherwise have no particular reason to visit. For businesses not yet signed up to a local gift card scheme in their own area, Perth's model is a working blueprint. Business Gateway and Scotland's Towns Partnership both offer guidance on launching similar schemes, and the infrastructure is more accessible than most independent traders realise.
Scotland Loves Local Week sits within a broader Scottish Government commitment to the 20-minute neighbourhood concept, the idea that residents should be able to meet most of their daily needs within a short walk or cycle of home. That policy context matters for SMEs: local spending campaigns are not just feel-good initiatives, they are increasingly tied to planning, transport, and economic development decisions that shape where customers can and want to spend. Getting visible inside that ecosystem now is a practical business decision, not just a community gesture.