23 November 2007, 15:49 PM
  • The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Friends of the Earth have joined forces to urge Christmas shoppers to avoid out of town shopping centres and hit their local high street instead.

The UK has 250,000 independent shops that account for 11% of all UK businesses. Avoiding the out-of-town shopping centres saves on carbon emissions generated from longer car journeys and will also allow shoppers to enjoy the better personal service and wider choice offered by their high street. The local economy will also be protected so that a thriving high street is still able to offer these amenities and jobs for local people in the long-term.

As well as cutting car journeys, lots of small shops help the environment by stocking local produce and using less packaging than the big supermarkets. Supporting them is a simple way to help make our local communities more sustainable.

John Wright, FSB National Chairman, said, “The decline of our high streets in recent years has been all too obvious. That’s why it’s so important to support our independent shops if we want to ensure that they are still there next Christmas.  Besides, there is nothing festive in tramping around a soulless shopping mall when local high streets offer a wealth of variety and originality.

“By shopping locally we can also do our bit to cut carbon emissions, so that, even if we don’t have a white Christmas, there’s no reason why we can’t enjoy a green one.”

Richard Hines, Real Food campaigner at Friends of the Earth, added, “The big supermarkets are squeezing independent retailers out of business all year round so it’s vital that we support local shops this Christmas. If we shop local first we can help our high streets to thrive, as well as benefitting the environment. And once you’ve recovered from the Christmas festivities, why not make local shopping a new year’s resolution for 2008?”