We’re a Totally Locally kinda business…

I would like to think that Number Thirteen has always strived to immerse itself into the Knaresborough business community. I had chosen Knaresborough to be my home again after almost a decade of living in other places, and wanted to make sure I was here for the long haul. I said yes to every opportunity that came my way, whether that was getting involved in community activities like The Great Knaresborough Bunny Hunt, events like FEVA (Festival of Entertainment and Visual Arts), or simply just using and promoting the local businesses on our doorstep.

When I first opened Number Thirteen, I wanted to make sure that I supported as many local businesses as possible, keeping money in the local economy. We use a local dairy for our milk supply (a necessity in the running of a coffee shop!), we get our fruit and veg from the local market, our meat and eggs come from the butchers two doors down the road, and we get all our promotional material (loyalty cards, menus etc) done at the local printers down the street. There are many more businesses that we use, but these were the first that sprung to mind.

I think getting involved in the local community, and the business community in particular, is one of the reasons that Number Thirteen has survived as long as it has. By supporting local businesses, they in turn want to support you too. By getting to know your neighbours, both on the street and the town as a whole, you give your business a face, adding an element of humanity to something that can actually be quite impersonal.

It’s always been nice, being part of the Knaresborough business community, because there is always something going on, and it’s always just trying to make Knaresborough a better place to live and work. The Great Knaresborough Bunny Hunt is a fabulous town-wide activity that gets businesses and residents involved – businesses as bunny hosts and sponsors, residents as participants. FEVA is a vibrant town-wide arts event, and there are so many ways to get involved as a local business. In the past we have played host to artists on the arts trail, put on food events, and sometimes just decorated our window in the FEVA-pink colours, to help ‘turn the town pink’ for the 10 days of the festival.

In the past couple of months, a new initiative has found its way to Knaresborough, and again, businesses have been asked to get involved for the good of the town. This initiative is Totally Locally and is best explained on their website:

“Totally Locally is something special. It’s more than a shop local campaign, it’s a philosophy. It started out as a small idea in the North of England and has grown into a multi-award-winning worldwide movement. Groups of volunteers in towns and areas use our Town Kit, following guidelines and using templates and a full event strategy, and use it to make their town a stronger, more vibrant & resilient place.

We help communities to build strong, sustainable local economies from the bottom-up in towns across the UK & worldwide. We create tools for businesses, groups and volunteers to help themselves – enabling them to boost, sustain and promote independent shops, makers & producers, making towns thrive. We encourage collaboration, we encourage no bulls**t and we encourage being nice. We aren’t “anti-chain”, we actually believe a good high street is a mix of these and independents, we just want a level playing field by giving indies access to the kind of marketing materials and support that the big guys have.”

Totally Locally is an internationally recognised initiative and Knaresborough was lucky enough to be selected as part of a three-town trial, organised by the Mayor of North Yorkshire, as part of his Vibrant & Sustainable High Street’s Fund. Knaresborough, along with Malton/Norton and Pickering, are fortunate enough to have the support and expertise of the Totally Locally Team, to help boost Knaresborough’s trade and hopefully secure a more positive future for the High Street.

This will be achieved through a series of tried and tested campaigns, as well as events and the implementation of lasting tools to help Knaresborough stay ‘on the map’. This includes a website which is already available (www.totallylocallyknaresborough.org) , with business listings, professional photos and an events calendar. There is also a town map in production, to help point visitors and residents to everything that Knaresborough has to offer.

The campaigns include everything from recommending your favourite fellow businesses by simply putting a poster in your window, to a town-wide special offer event called the ‘Magic Tenner’ which seeks to illustrate the impact that keeping money within the local economy can have on a town.

In the past two months alone, Totally Locally has implemented the ‘We Recommend’ campaign, which has been very positively received by the Knaresborough business community, and ‘A Month of Sundays’ campaign, in an attempt to boost Sunday trading within the town. Throughout August, businesses that don’t usually open, will join those businesses that already open on Sundays and hopefully will see an upsurge in footfall. Currently the town is in a bit of a vicious circle – businesses don’t open because there aren’t enough people to make it worth their time, but equally customers don’t bother coming into town because not enough businesses are open. The Month of Sundays campaign hopes to break the cycle and get customers coming into Knaresborough again.

In the coming months, more campaigns and events will be introduced, hopefully with more and more businesses taking part, when they see the positive impact the initiative is having.

I for one will be getting involved wherever I can, both as Number Thirteen and as a resident of Knaresborough. I love the idea of the ‘We Recommend’ campaign, as it’s something we do as a business anyway – pointing our customers to as many local businesses as possible, even if that is another coffee shop or café. People are always amazed when I openly recommend another business that is very similar to my own, but honestly, if I can’t accommodate someone for any reason – be that because we don’t have the space, don’t sell the type of thing they are looking for (like bacon sandwiches or Full English breakfasts for example) or simply because we rate them as a business – I don’t see why I wouldn’t recommend someone else. As I said in a recent podcast interview – raising up someone else, whether that is through showing kindness or offering a compliment or recommendation, doesn’t bring you down in any way - you don’t lose anything by being kind.

I am looking forward to seeing what the Totally Locally initiative does over the next six months, and look forward to being part of a potentially new future for Knaresborough.