(Image: Heidi Marfitt)
AN employer is backing a national campaign to support local economies through Christmas reward schemes.
Ilkley-based Ideal Extraction is taking part in the ‘Choose local. Make the switch’ campaign, which encourages businesses to use Town & City Gift Cards as staff rewards.
The cards can be spent at businesses within the towns where they are issued, helping to boost local economies.
Helen Rhodes, director at Ideal Extraction, said: "In the past, we’ve given our staff something like flowers or chocolates as a thank you gift, but we moved to using the Ilkley Gift Card to give our staff more choice and show our support for local.
"The Ilkley Gift Card is a treat for our employees as it feels like a special gift being branded to Ilkley but it’s also helping our town.
"At Christmas time in particular, you want to support your town and its businesses and a Town & City Gift Card makes a lovely present for your staff.
"If more organisations made the switch to local, the impact on our towns and cities would be enormous."
Ideal Extraction now uses the Ilkley Gift Card for staff rewards throughout the year.
The campaign is backed by new research from Miconex, which found that 98 per cent of organisations consider supporting local businesses important.
The research also revealed that 94 per cent of employees value having choice in their rewards and incentives, and that 88 per cent would like to receive a gift card from their employer at Christmas.
Sarah Brookfield-Almond, Ilkley BID manager, said: "The Ilkley Gift Card is the ultimate ‘shop local’ gift card, and can be spent with both big brands and independent businesses in the town, offering far more choice than a regular gift card.
"Not only does the card offer outstanding choice for staff, it offers real support for Ilkley businesses as the cards have to be spent in our town, with participating businesses.
"Making the switch to the Ilkley Gift Card this Christmas ensures your employee benefit also benefits your town."
The Ilkley Gift Card was launched by Ilkley BID in 2022 and can be used at around 80 businesses in the town.
Colin Munro, CEO of Miconex, said: "It’s fantastic to have the support of Ideal Extraction in our ‘Choose local. Make the switch’ campaign to highlight the huge impact that moving to local gift cards can have on our communities, bringing people through the door of local businesses with money to spend."
Town & City Gift Cards are now available through corporate reward platforms such as Perkbox, Voucherline and Voucher Express.