BUSINESSES across the town have been signing up to join the new Shop Penarth scheme which was relaunched recently.

The rewards scheme was officially relaunched in September at the Gwyrddio Penarth Greening (GPG) Food Festival at the Kymin and more than 52 businesses now have offers advertised on the new Shop Penarth website.

The aim of the scheme is to support local businesses in order to keep jobs in the area, keep money circulating in the local economy, make the town more sustainable for the future and help make the town a better place to live and work.

Introduced by GPG originally in 2010, the scheme also aims to reduce carbon emissions as fewer people would use their cars to shop out of town.

GPG have been working alongside Penarth Town Council, Penarth businesses such as Hamptons, Shore and Umpa Lumpa Sweet Shop and the Penarth Times on the revamped scheme.

The three key principles of the scheme are “loving my town, supporting my local economy and building a greener future”.

As a supporter of the scheme, the Penarth Times will be running articles each week focusing on the stories of traders who run independent businesses in the town, those behind bringing the scheme back and shoppers who have taken advantage of the scheme to explain how it works and why people should get involved.

The revitalised scheme consists of a Shop Penarth loyalty card which costs £2 and is for life.

The card will be available in participating shops listed on the Shop Penarth website which will show which offers and discounts are available at each business.

From food and drink to fashion, groceries and gifts to professional services and from health and beauty to homewares and travel, the scheme covers three main categories including food and drink, retail and services.

Shop Penarth is funded by the sale of cards and a retailer registration fee which is paid yearly.

All the money raised from the sale of cards goes back into the scheme.

The cost of the cards, printing, publicity and the vouchers all comes from Shop Penarth sales.

For more information on the scheme, visit shoppenarth.co.uk.

If you are a trader or shopper in Penarth, we would love to hear your views on the new scheme and why you think people should get involved.

If you support shopping locally for the benefit of Penarth, get in touch with us by emailing anthony.lewis@penarthtimes.co.uk or calling 07760215094 to share your views and stories about shopping locally.