As part of a recent £8m funding competition, The Technology Strategy Board – the UK’s innovation agency – has awarded the Bristol Pound CIC (Community Interest Company) £100,000 to expand their ‘Town Pound’ project. The aim of the project is to introduce a currency which will encourage local shoppers to spend their money at local businesses and on their high street.
The project, dubbed ‘The Town Pound: A Network of Local High Street E-Currencies’, will build on the successful launch of the Bristol Pound, a local currency which is now viable for use in paying some local taxes and for management by a regulated financial institution.
You can see more on the Bristol Pound in the video below:
David Willetts, minister for universities and skills, announced the Bristol Pound’s backing alongside 20 other projects as part of the first phase of a competition dubbed ‘Re-imagining the high street’. The Technology Strategy Board has already given out £2m in funding, and will give a further £6m in the second phase of the competition.
Willetts said: ‘Technology plays a vital role in people’s everyday lives and has the ability to influence our movements and shopping habits. By developing innovations to regenerate the retail sector we will be able to breathe new life into the UK’s high streets.
‘This competition will encourage exciting new developments that could change the way business is done across our high streets. Giving shoppers and businesses real time information that they can use to their advantage will make a real difference in helping to boost the UK economy.’
