£10m spent in Derry under £100 High Street Spend Local scheme

The minister released details of a Department for Economy analysis this week.

“That early analysis shows that the benefits of the scheme were enjoyed in all parts of Northern Ireland: in every one of our local constituencies and in every local government district.

“Over £27m was spent in the Belfast City Council area, while over £12m was spent in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area.

“Over £10m was spent in each of the following local council areas: Newry, Mourne and Down; Derry City and Strabane; Antrim and Newtownabbey; Lisburn and Castlereagh; and Ards and North Down. In the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area, the figure spent was over £9m.

“In the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area and the Mid Ulster District Council area, more than £8 million was spent, while the figure for the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area was just over £7.5m,” he told MLAs.

Mr. Lyons said 1,399,051 people were issued with a Spend Local card, of which 1,393,043 cards (99·6%) were activated.

“That is a tremendous achievement. The scheme was designed to provide an economic boost to the local economy, and, to that end, £136.6m has been injected into the local economy, leading to an improved level of consumer confidence and increased levels of public spending. That can be clearly seen from the fact that nearly 1.4 m customers visited our local shops, restaurants, bars, cafes, cinemas and hairdressers across all parts of NI during the lifetime of the scheme, with over3.7m new transactions being made using the Spend Local card.”