The Perth Card

I think it is so important to support independent businesses and so when I was asked to blog about The Perth Card I jumped at the chance. One of the reasons we chose to move to the Fair City was because of the great mix of small businesses and the larger chain stores. Having come from a market town where 95% of the shops and businesses were independent it is important to me to “shop local” as much as I can.

The Perth Card is set up to allow the recipient to spend money that is pre-loaded onto the gift card in some of the city’s smaller shops. It’s just like a gift card you get from the chain stores except this is accepted in over sixty of Perth’s businesses and shops. How good is that?

First thing I will mention about my Perth Card spending spree was how busy the city was. Even on a week day it seems Perth can certainly hold it’s own, which is great. Oh and the sun was shining which is obviously a double bonus.

I had timed my visit to coincide with lunchtime and so my first port of call was Willows and I decided to sit outside and enjoy the sun. A member of staff promptly came and took my drinks order and gave me a few more minutes to decide on what I would like to eat. Once ordered it didn’t take too long to arrive and I was free to relax and watch the world go by.

All very lovely. The staff were pleasant, helpful and already busy at just gone midday. I noticed whilst inside settling my bill that there were some amazing cakes too. Something to go back and check out maybe?

I then moved on to The Rose House. I haven’t treated myself to any flowers since moving here and I realised just how much having fresh cut flowers in the house can make a difference. The arrangement I had cost just £15 and it is so pretty. Buying flowers from a florist means you know that they will be cared for properly and most places will have deliveries a couple of times a week, meaning your flowers will be fresh. You also get the knowledge and advice on how to keep your bouquet looking good for longer too, especially in the hot weather. Very helpful.

My next shop was Scottish Seasons. I wanted a small gift for a friend’s daughter and I know on their visit up here to see us they went into this shop. It is perfect for gifts and something a bit different and it didn’t take long before I found something I knew she would love.

For this next little gem of a shop I wandered on Princes Street to Tayberry Gallery. I have passed this shop on many occasions on my way to the south inch car park and admired the window display. This gallery is perfect for treating yourself or loved ones. Beautiful handmade products all made in the UK and many based locally to Perth and around Scotland. A variety of sculptures, glass, jewellery, and greetings cards too. Speaking to the lovely member of staff I was given information about some of the designers and the products that were on show, which was really great. From here I bought a ceramic pendant necklace which I look forward to wearing!

Paying with The Perth Card is super easy too. As with any gift card you just hand it over to the member of staff, they swipe it on the card machine and the money is deducted from it. Easy peasy. In a couple of the stores I was asked for a signature too. You can keep a track of your balance online too.

The benefits of giving someone a Perth gift card is that it ensures the money is spent in local small businesses. Many of the owners are local themselves and employee local people, so are hugely important to our community. But other than that they are knowledgeable and have some superb products to offer. Of course the knock on affect from this is that you will probably be supporting other local suppliers, craftsmen, farmers etc too. A much bigger picture.

You can buy The Perth Card online or over at Fun Junction (Old High Street, Perth) and Scottish Seasons (St John St, Perth). You can have amounts from £10 – £500 loaded on the card for the recipient to spend and over sixty businesses and shops are part of this scheme.

So if you know someone who enjoys dining out and going to the theatre, they can use The Perth Card. Or what about treating your Mum to a manicure?  Yes you can do that too at the salons which have registered.

Plenty of restaurants, cafes, coffee shops to choose from, Also the cinema, Scone Palace and even hotels can be found on the list of where the card can be used.

If you are a local business, attraction etc and would like to be a part of this fantastic initiative then you can email or call Richard Gray –  richard@mi-cnx.com   01738 444376 to find out more.

The Perth Card is a brilliant idea and I loved looking around many of the shops on the list, speaking to other small business owners. I have certainly discovered some new favourites and will continue to enjoy shopping locally.

For the purpose of this blog I was given a pre-loaded card to spend in local shops. The ones where I made purchases were not the only shops I visited. Oh and did I mention the sun was out!