It’s time to shop, eat, drink and breathe local in the district’s town centres

Shop, eat, drink and breathe local – this is the message being shared across the Sevenoaks District as town centres start to reopen.

From Monday 12 April, non-essential retail and outdoor hospitality will reopen across the UK and Sevenoaks District Council is launching a district-wide campaign celebrating the incredible businesses that make up its four town centres.

Local traders from Edenbridge, Sevenoaks, Swanley and Westerham have been invited to take part in a special video campaign – Shop Eat Drink Breathe Local – launching w/c 12 April, that will show locals and visitors what they do best.

The district is also fortunate to have towns that are very close to fantastic open spaces, such as The Green in Westerham, Swanley Park, Stangrove Park in Edenbridge and Knole Park in Sevenoaks, so people have room to breathe the fresh air and enjoy local green spaces while shopping safely.

Running on YouTube and shared across the council’s social media channels, local traders will take part in a series of videos demonstrating their skills, talking about products and services in fun and inventive ways, and encouraging people to visit the high street and support local, safely. Among these will be a tour of Swanley Pet Centre, an update from Schmidt Sevenoaks on how they’ve adapted throughout the pandemic and an interview with the team at Entre Nous.

The first phase of the campaign will be focused on non-essential retail from 12 April, and a second phase focused on hospitality businesses as they prepare to reopen from 17 May. The content from the campaign will remain live online for people to browse and share.

The council will also be sharing safety and ‘shop local’ messages across its social media channels – so residents and businesses are urged to follow Sevenoaks District Council across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn for updates – as well as placing positive and helpful signage in shopping hot spots.

 The Town Centre Ambassadors are also out-and-about in the town centres whatever the weather answering questions and ensuring that COVID-safety guidance is being followed.

 Cllr Peter Fleming, Leader of Sevenoaks District Council, said:

“Now more than ever, your local shopping areas wants to see you back! We have some incredible businesses across the district and are lucky to have four town centres with a rich variety of traders providing amazing goods and services.

“We want people to be safe, and feel reassured when they come back to town, so we are giving them little tasters of some of the amazing services and products they can find across the Sevenoaks district when they next visit.

“While online shopping had its place during the height of the pandemic, and many independent businesses have made the most of digital platforms to keep trading, our town centres offer something that you can’t find online – amazing people offering a great service and one-of-a-kind products. It’s time to support local traders, who work and live alongside us, and celebrate our wonderful district by exploring what it has to offer, safely.”

Any town centre businesses interested in contributing an idea to the video campaign can get in touch with Emily Marmara at Pillory Barn on emily@pillorybarn.co.uk.

By Nicole Moor