Shoppers urged to get Appy on Swaffham high street

A roadshow will take place in Swaffham later this month as part of a new initiative designed to help promote its independent shops.

The town hosted the launch of the Breckland Council-funded ShopAppy scheme, which officials say around 100 traders across the district have so far joined, last month.

Now, the authority is holding a series of roadshows in an effort to persuade shoppers who may not have signed up to the programme yet to do so.

The Swaffham event will take place on Saturday, May 26, between 9am and 3pm, and will allow consumers to see how the system works and potentially save money on their shopping bills.

Paul Claussen, the council’s executive member for place, said: “We know that it isn’t always easy for people to get out and shop locally, because they are at work or leading busy lives.

“This initiative aims to give our local shops, restaurants and businesses a chance to fight back against the big online players and national chains. It’s a great initiative and I hope people will attend our roadshow events to find out how they can make the most of it.”

The online platform allows customers to view all of the particpating outlets and order goods which they can either collect directly from the stores during normal trading hours, or pick up from a central collection point outside those times.

The council is subsidising the monthly fee for the first 200 businesses to sign up, as part of a £230,000 programme of investment intended to boost the district’s towns.

However, it did face criticism at the time of the launch after a Freedom of Information request revealed it had spent thousands of pounds with large firms including Tesco and Amazon.