Entrepreneur aims to Keep Edinburgh Thriving

Pioneering venture Keep Edinburgh Thriving will allow residents to continue to ‘shop local’ whilst simultaneously supporting businesses across Edinburgh to survive COVID-19 and beyond 

Three weeks ago, everything changed overnight for small businesses across the city of Edinburgh. Social distancing measures forced them to close their doors indefinitely and the future for each of them, became somewhat uncertain.

In an attempt to provide these independent vendors with a much-needed lifeline, local entrepreneur, Robbie Allen has launched Keep Edinburgh Thriving, a service that will see a selection of local high-quality products packaged up into gift boxes and delivered to households across Scotland’s capital.

The pioneering venture will allow local residents to continue to ‘shop local’ whilst simultaneously providing a critical lifeline to these businesses, helping them with cash flow and financial sustainability during COVID-19 and beyond.

Robbie Allen, founder of Keep Edinburgh Thriving comments: “It is a really simple idea. Our aim is to Keep Edinburgh Thriving.

“We are partnering with a bunch of amazing local businesses in Edinburgh and taking these high-quality products and handling all the logistics and e-commerce side of things for them so that they can continue to grow and sustain their company and livelihood.

“This is a really tough time for our beloved high street, and we want to help as many local Edinburgh businesses as possible. As soon as you place an order this instantly benefits our local partners providing the products in each gift box.”

There are two box sizes of gift box available – a small box contains 4-5 items (£39) and a large contains 6-7 items (£55). Customers will receive a variety of products including artisan food and snacks, local art, drinks, craft coffee, beer, spirits, lifestyle products (candles, coasters, notebooks, mugs/tumblers) and local skin care products, all of which will be high-quality and local to Edinburgh.

To help support the local community further during this epidemic, £2 from each gift box sale will be donated to the Edinburgh Food Project.

The rapid spread of COVID-19 has caused a sudden, steep decline in business for cafes, restaurants, boutiques, artisans, creators and local retailers.

For more information about how to support your local high street and keep Edinburgh Thriving, visit www.keepedinburghthriving.com