New campaign to back ‘lifeblood’ businesses launched in Middlesbrough

A campaign has been launched in a bid to protect and promote Middlesbrough’s small businesses through the coronavirus outbreak.

Middlesbrough Council has set up the “Buy Boro” project – a free online directory where the town’s businesses can be listed and residents can find services and goods during the COVID-19 restrictions.

Butchers, breweries, grocers, jewellers, online well-being groups and food delivery outlets have signed up to the scheme so far.

It comes after the authority pointed to figures showing the loss of money from the local economy due to online or out-of-town shopping.

Officials claim for every £1 spent, only 5p comes back into the local economy for online shopping when compared with 50p to 70p when spent on Teesside.

Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston urged people to back the town’s “world class businesses” – hailing them as the “lifeblood and human face of our economy”.

He added: “When all of this is over the big boys, the supermarkets, the multi-nationals, they’re probably going to be mostly OK in the main.

“We’re launching this campaign to get behind all of the town’s brilliant independent businesses – they’ve never needed us more and we’ve never needed them more.”

Middlesbrough Council has been allocated £25.9 million to give to more than 2,000 firms in the borough during the covid-19 crisis.

The directory can be found at: www.buyboro.co.uk