9 Reasons Why… Buying Local is Great

We’ve all seen the sorry state of the British high street nowadays. As larger retailers and super stores take the place of family-run businesses up and down the country, the slow but steady demise of our independent retailers is certainly a sad sight.

Buying local doesn’t need to mean just loaves of bread and broccoli. By changing your thinking around where your school supplies come from, you can also make a huge difference. Here are our 9 Reasons Why Buying Local is Great:

1. Buying local helps support the local economy

Buying from a local supplier means your money stays local. Businesses create jobs and opportunities for people in your town and a vibrant business community attracts other companies to the area. All good news.

2. Buying local helps support your neighbours

Corporate giants have become a household name, but when buying local, your cash is helping to support real people (with real names) from your local area. Putting money in to the pockets of families just like yours feels great and helps others to thrive.

3. Local suppliers are genuinely grateful for your business

When you buy local every penny spent is genuinely appreciated by a local supplier. They rely on your business for their livelihood. The gratitude goes far beyond a faceless auto-generated email.

4. You get to speak with a real human!

You can’t build rapport with a website or automated ordering system. Local companies will always be fronted by real life humans, with whom you can have a conversation and get any queries you might have sorted quickly.

5. Buying local reduces carbon emissions

It is great that in 2020 we have every conceivable product we could want at the tips of our fingers, with next day delivery to boot, however this comes with a cost for our environment. Local companies mean local deliveries, less carbon emissions from vehicle fumes and less damage to the planet.

6. Buying local gives you the opportunity to buy in bulk

Many local suppliers (certainly Paper Plus) can offer to break your shipments down in to smaller chunks, but still allow you to buy in bulk. This means you can still benefit from the savings of a bulk purchase, without the stress of finding somewhere to put it all!

7. Local companies give a better service

Staff in local businesses are much more likely to appreciate your point of view and understand any stresses and strains you may have that relate to your business purchasing. Not only that, the close proximity to your own business or service will often mean that they can get products to you much faster than those further away.

8. Local business helps boost public services

The taxes paid by local companies goes directly to where you need it most. A stronger tax base in your council area means more budget to spend on the things that really matter… like schools, the emergency services and local library services.

9. British Tradition

We are a proud bunch and unlike many other countries where high streets are totally saturated with big brand names, we like to champion the little guy. Nothing will make you feel prouder to be British than supporting local businesses.

If you are a Sussex based school, choosing Paper Plus as your preferred supplier will help the environment, save money, boost the local economy and support local people, not just a faceless corporate brand. If you need any help in moving your supply over to us, our friendly (local!) team are always on hand to help. Get in touch with us via email sales@paperplusuk.com or call us at our offices in Burgess Hill on 01444 238050. We’d love to hear from you.