In My View – Brendon Cook, Director at Kiwi Recruitment

| February 2021

Chichester is a quaint city with a thriving hub of small locally run businesses, all of which need your support right now. We are lucky to have a strong indie community here – Draper’s Yard is a perfect example of this, housing a diverse range of independently run stalls. From The Refillery, which allows you take in your own jars to be refilled as part of the zero waste movement, to the beautiful handmade flower bouquets available from Katkins Flowers.

We are now in our third lockdown which has hit all businesses immensely hard but particularly small businesses, many of which are struggling to stay afloat. For this reason we need to support our local independent community as much as possible. Why wouldn’t you want to shop local and get better quality from a familiar and friendly face? Many small local stores also have online options, allowing you to shop from home but still feel assured that you are helping your city.

As a local business owner myself, I understand how much it means to have the support of the community. I confess, I do not buy everything locally as it’s just not always possible, but I try to where I can. There are also many other free ways to show your support including sharing a post via social media or leaving a review.

A huge benefit of shopping locally is the money stays in the local economy, which in turn creates new jobs which could benefit you, your friends and your family. 

So why not make this year’s resolution to step up and help to keep these fantastic and varied family-run businesses going during extremely difficult times.

To find out how you can support your local businesses during lockdown, visit the online business directory at https://chichesterbid.co.uk