£100,000 would have been helped, but at the end of the day does Altricham really need the Portas Pilot.
Altrincham no matter what some neasayers say is back on the up with lots of new businesses either opening recently or opening in the near future. New Thai Restaurant Phanthong being a prime example of a business that has received a very positive welcome on twitter and the restaurant scene as a whole is booming with a new Chinese buffet opening near Altrincham Market, Carrs Restaurant in a top secret location and Jasper’s reopening in Kings Court
So even though it’s naive ideology at play – we have 40,000+ residents in Altrincham, which means if we ethically spend £2.50 of what we spend each week at a local independent business than a national chain we can invest a Portas sized amount in our local community every single week
It’s not a life changing amount, but something that we can all do easily and without a major upheaval of our lifestyle
Here are 10 ways you can help the local Altrincham community in your weekly spend
1. Buy your fresh produce from veg, fruit to fish & meat at Altrincham Market rather than the national supermarkets.
2. We have plenty of local pubs such as The Wheatsheaf, The Tatton, Old Market Tavern and bars such as Costello’s, The Classroom, Bloom, The Green Room and many more. As the old Cheers song goes “I like to go where everybody knows my name” – drink in friendly environments
3. Eating Lunch in Altrincham – instead of going for a chain like Greggs … try Pitta Crepe, Olio On The Green, Oxford Rd Cafe or the fab chippy on Greenwood Street
4. Need office supplies or Stationery for the kids at school – Holt Business Solutions on Borough Rd are a great (and often cheaper) local alternative to Rymans etc
5. Watch and support your local football team, Altrincham FC when they play local games at Moss Lane
6. Encourage management when arranging staff nights out to consider local nights out rather than Manchester City Centre or Cheshire
7. Try many of our varied independent restaurants in Altrincham – there’s a corridor of great restaurants on Regent Rd such as La Rioja, Phanthong and Coco’s as well as many more
8. Remind friends that Altrincham is only 10p per hour to park – a lot of people still aren’t aware of this
9. Support those local businesses that actively support others online – @zipyard is a great example of this
10. Remember local service providers such as accountants, professionals and marketeers – better to keep the money locally in the community
Altrincham has a lot of local businesses to be proud of and actively support and we each play our role with this
If you use it – tweet about it, post a facebook recommendation on their page and tell your friends on the street about it – talk Altrincham up!!!
If businesses aren’t currently using free marketing such as twitter or facebook to encourage customers in – tell them to get on it!!!
Remember every £ spent locally at at an independent stays in the local community rather than gets syphoned out to head office
Follow ourselves on twitter @altrinchamhq and also @ouraltrincham and @atcp1 for news of new businesses as and when they open that you can actively support