Gift card specialist Miconex has reported £24 million in sales across its Town & City Gift Cards network in 2025, a 60 per cent rise on 2024, as shoppers increasingly use gift cards to support independent businesses and local economies.
The company estimates the 2025 sales will generate around 486,000 targeted visits to high streets and shopping districts in 2026, based on an average of three trips per gift card.
Aberdeen retained its position as the UK’s top-selling local gift card for the third consecutive year, with almost £800,000 in Aberdeen Gift Card sales during 2025. Meanwhile, Enniskillen in Northern Ireland, with a population of around 14,000, ranked second with almost £300,000 in sales.
The figures reflect wider consumer trends reported by the Gift Card & Voucher Association (GCVA), which found in November 2025 that almost a third of UK consumers buy gift cards specifically to funnel support to local companies. GCVA data also shows over a quarter of consumers purchased gift cards for others in the first half of 2025, up from 13.9 per cent in 2024, alongside increased purchasing for self-use.
Multi-store gift cards continued to gain ground, accounting for around 40 per cent of total gift card sales in 2025, up from 34 per cent in 2024, which the GCVA partially attributes to customer hesitancy about committing to a single retailer.
Miconex now operates more than 200 multi-store local gift card programmes, including 97 in the UK and 16 in Ireland, alongside initiatives in Canada and the US. The gift cards are branded to a town, city or district, designed to keep spending locked into local areas.
Despite rising demand for digital formats, physical, in-person gift card purchases remained the most popular route in 2025, with almost half of consumers buying this way, according to the GCVA. Miconex also pointed to stronger accessibility through new in-person gift card kiosks in Cambridge and Inverness, plus a second kiosk in Aberdeen.
The company has also expanded distribution via partnerships announced in late 2025 with Tillo and Blackhawk Network, with Town & City Gift Cards now available through the Tillo platform and enabling One4All gift card holders to swap to a Town & City Gift Card.
Miconex said corporate orders were a major driver of growth, estimating almost half of its £24m sales were business purchases, typically organisations buying local gift cards for employee rewards. The company added that its research found 82 per cent of organisations say supporting local has become more important.
Digital sales are also accelerating, with Miconex reporting UK digital gift card sales were up almost 300 per cent, aligning with GCVA findings that 43 per cent of consumers want wallet- compatible gift cards.
Colin Munro, CEO of MiconexPhoto: Handout
Colin Munro, CEO of Miconex, said: “Town & City Gift Cards tap into what customers and organisations want from their gift cards - choice, support for local and ease of use… Our extraordinary growth in 2025 is testament to the outstanding commitment of our network of local gift card programmes, supported by our dedicated team and partners. In 2026, we have ambitious plans to bring the power of local to even more communities.”
Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said the city was “beyond proud” to top the UK rankings again, adding that the programme has injected £7.75m into the local economy to date, supporting more than 300 businesses.
“The success of the Aberdeen Gift Card is also a huge success for the more than 300 businesses who are signed up to the initiative, from beauty salons to fashion outlets, theatres to restaurants and bars. Every penny spent on an Aberdeen Gift Card goes back into our bricks and mortar traders – with extra spend on top of that. Having injected a total of £7.75m into the local economy is a huge achievement and I want to thank every business who has signed up and everyone who has bought an Aberdeen Gift Card,” Watson said.
Noelle McAloon, Enniskillen BID manager, said the town’s gift card programme has generated over £1.3m in sales since launching in 2017, calling the 2025 uplift a “huge achievement” and promising “an even better 2026”.
“The Enniskillen Gift Card has always been about promoting loyalty and showing how positive our town is, it promotes a sense of community, it has increased footfall, and it has ultimately made Enniskillen better,” McAloon added.
“Enniskillen Gift Cards are a perfect gift, staff incentive and a way of telling someone you care about, that you are thinking of them wherever you are in the world. The growth of the programme has been extremely satisfying and seeing sales increase by 17 per cent to £287,000 in 2025 is a huge achievement. Plans are in place for an even better 2026!”