Live Local, Love Local and Shop Local

Selfridges 2015 Christmas Shop!

As you read this article I hope that you, your family, friends, colleagues and business acquaintances have submitted your observations and comments to Waterford Council on the Waterford City Centre Urban Renewal Scheme. The deadline date for submissions was Tuesday 11^th August at 16:00.

I do wonder just how many of us engaged with the process and in fact how many actually made the effort and compiled a written submission, observation or comment?

I do know from the work of the Waterford Business Group that we penned a significant submission of circa 6,000 words that took into account the views, observations and concerns of people right across the City Centre, and also included a significant input from Ferrybank as well. As Chair of the WBG it was felt that we should make that extra effort and create a document that reflects the views of many businesses and citizens of Waterford City. The submission will, in due course, be available to view on the WBG website www.waterfordbusinessgroup.com and we would hope that you might find the time to read our submission.

As we look towards what we hope is a brighter future for Waterford City, and its immediate environment, we must remember that it is essential that we continue to Live Local, Shop Local and Love Local.

In fact we do need to work harder on this process?

Whether that is sourcing local suppliers for your businesses “meat and two veg” or finding a local supplier for your stationary, promotional items, your print, graphic design etc etc. The importance of sourcing locally cannot be lost on any of us.

I read with interests across several local newspapers last week stories and articles about local people who are trying to supply local businesses with their products and services. Whilst I do appreciate that people must find value for money there is often as much value for money to be found locally than there is further afield.

Eoghan Dunphy &
Waterford's finest spuds.

For example Dunphy’s of Annestown is a local grower and supplier of fruit and vegetables to the hospitality industry. The Waterford Viking Triangle has recently launched an “Eat Waterford” promotion with in excess of 25 restaurants and hospitality establishments. But how many of these businesses are actually buying and sourcing locally? In fact are how many of these businesses are even aware that there is a local supplier literally on their doorstep? Surely, more work has to be done on this and a simple awareness campaign to promote local suppliers needs to be put in place.

As an addition to this, I noted a post on social media from Paul Dower, from Waterford In Your Pocket, who recently posted that it would be fantastic to go into a local restaurant or eatery and see listed on the menu that the meat, fish, poultry, vegetables, cheese etc were ALL sourced locally and when paying for his meal Paul would therefore be directly contributing and supporting local indigenous Waterford businesses.

Sometimes it is hard to go down this route and sometimes you have to make that extra special effort if you really wish to make a difference to the community we choose to live, work and play in.

There has always been a misapprehension that buying locally is a byword for having to pay extra for a products or services. I can honestly say that I see tremendous value for money at the moment across many, many industry sectors here in Waterford City and in fact I would go further and say there is currently better value for money locally than there is regionally and nationally.

As we start to see the night’s drawing in and our thoughts start to turn towards Christmas – yes it is just around the corner and as Selfridges in London has opened its Christmas shop it must be true – we must for the last four and a half months of 2015 make a concentrated effort to do our bit and support local suppliers and support local businesses.

The back half of 2015 will be a struggle for our businesses as we see footfall numbers to the City Centre continue to be extremely disappointing and we see a lower disposable income spend across the whole South East region in general.

There can be no better time to get out and pin your colours to the mast and give local businesses your support. During the last few weeks of work with the Waterford Business Group, on the Waterford City Centre Urban Renewal Scheme, we have met significant numbers of worried and concerned business people who fear that we are potentially changing the very fabric of the City Centre for the wrong reasons. If we are to see a brighter future for the City Centre then we ALL need to play our part and we ALL need to get into the City Centre and GET involved.

Of course that means going that extra mile and that means working slightly harder to keep your business local and this of course takes time and effort.

But if it can be done in Dublin, Cork and closer to home in Kilkenny and Wexford why can’t we do the same here in Waterford City?

Waterford Business Group submission link is as follows; www.raincloudwebdesign.com/WBG_Urban_Renewal_Submission_FINAL.pdf