Lyons hails massive success of the High Street Scheme

Date published: 22 December 2021

Economy Minister Gordon Lyons today said the High Street Scheme has been a huge success which achieved what it set out to do.

Economy Minister Gordon Lyons
Economy Minister Gordon Lyons

The scheme, which launched in September and closed at midnight on Sunday 19 December, has provided a much needed economic boost to the retail, hospitality and service sectors.

The Minister said:

“It is clear that the scheme has been very successful. Over 1.4 million pre-paid £100 Spend Local cards were dispatched and we boosted the economy by over £137.5 million. The scheme also received a lot of positive feedback from a wide variety of businesses and organisations across all parts of Northern Ireland.

“I would like to thank every cardholder who spent their card with a local business. Not only have they provided support to that business, but also to their wider community through supporting local employment.”

According to an Ulster Bank Survey, retail sales in Northern Ireland rose in November for the first time in four months. The bank's monthly survey of private sector businesses is considered a reliable indicator of economic performance. Its Chief Economist Richard Ramsey said the scheme undoubtedly contributed to the pick-up in demand.

A report from the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC) showed that Northern Ireland’s footfall in November increased by 5.6 percentage points on the previous month. Northern Ireland’s shop visits were 10 percentage points higher than the UK average.

The Minister added:

“The scheme set out to support local businesses which had been hardest hit during the pandemic and it is clear, through any objective analysis, that it has undoubtedly done just that.”

A small proportion of the cards sent in the closing days of the scheme may not have been delivered in time. In addition, a relatively small number of others may not have an opportunity to use their Spend Local Card before the scheme ended on 19 December 2021. The cards delivered late include cards that have been reissued due to being lost/stolen or faulty and also those who applied late, made errors in their applications or did not respond to requests for information within the scheme’s application and verification time period. The cards were issued at-risk because the Department wanted to ensure the most amount of people could support local businesses and was, therefore, verifying applications up to the very last minute. These card holders will be able to use their cards from 9am on Friday 24 December until 11.59 pm on Friday 7 January. The Department will be in direct contact with these applicants with further information today. 

The Department has become aware of a technical issue affecting 2,010 cards on the final weekend of the scheme. The vast majority of these cards had less than £5 outstanding balance and 300 cards did have the full balance remaining. It is unfortunate that these applicants were not able to support their local businesses, and the Department will also be in contact with these applicants to let them know they can also use their card from Friday 24 December until Friday 7 January 2022.

The Department appreciates that there may be wider issues affecting applications or the use of cards. Now the scheme has closed, the Department will take stock of the various issues people have faced and consider options for remedy.

Notes to editors: 

  1. The High Street Scheme closed at midnight on December 19 when the Spend Local pre-paid cards ceased to be valid.
  2. The Department is required under Section 75 to monitor the implementation of its policies which includes collecting data on age, sex and disability.
  3. The telephone support service opened on 11 October. The later opening of the telephone service was implemented to encourage more people to apply online when the portal opened on 27 September and avoid using the phone line leaving it available for those who did not have access to, or were not able to use, the internet. It closed at 6pm on October 25.
  4. The Department’s Economic Recovery Action Plan is available at Economic Recovery Action Plan
  5. The Department may take photographs and videos at announcements and events to publicise its work. Photographs, interviews, videos or other recordings may be issued to media organisations for publicity purposes or used in promotional material, including in publications, newspapers, magazines, other print media, on television, radio and electronic media (including social media and the internet). Photographs and videos will also be stored on the Department’s internal records management system. The Department will keep the photographs and recordings for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which they have been obtained. The Department’s Privacy Policy is available on our website.
  6. To keep up to date with news from the Department you can follow us on the following social media channels:
    Twitter – @Economy_NI
    Facebook – @EconomyNI
    Skills to Succeed Facebook – SkillstoSucceedni
    Instagram – economy_ni
    LinkedIn – Department for the Economy NI
  7. For media enquiries contact the Department for the Economy Press Office at pressoffice@economy-ni.gov.uk
  8. The Executive Information Service operates an out-of-hours service for media enquiries only between 18:00 hrs and 08:00 hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

Share this page

Back to top