THE KENDAL CARD

That this House welcomes the introduction of the Kendal Card, a type of gift card that operates on the Visa network and allows consumers to spend in over 100 businesses in Kendal, including cafés, restaurants, shops and venues; recognises the simplicity of the system in that retailers do not need to have additional software or hardware to take payment from the card; notes that the general gift card market is worth over £5 billion to the economy annually and that recipients tend to spend between 30 to 35 per cent over the actual value of the card; understands that, in the areas where they have been introduced, town and city gift cards have been a proven way of encouraging people to shop locally; and believes that this underlines the positive impact that the Kendal Card will have on the local economy.