New loyalty card scheme for Huntly

The Huntly Business Association and Aberdeenshire Towns Partnership are proposing to launch a Loyalty Card Scheme for businesses in the town. This would be similar to schemes operating in Haslemere, Surrey and Frodsham, Cheshire.

The scheme uses smart card technology to accumulate points towards a reward for loyalty to the individual business. One card is able to record information for any business in the scheme but each is kept separate from the others. Cards are purchased by customers from outlets and bear the logo for the scheme an for the particular business. Rewards are given, usually in the form of vouchers, on reaching a certain number of points and are redeemable on a return visit to the outlet.

The aim of the Scheme is to provide an incentive to return to an outlet to accumulate points and to redeem rewards. It also builds loyalty to the town, providing a reason to shop in Huntly rather than elsewhere.

It is hoped to launch the Scheme in September/October 2008 and businesses are being canvassed for support until 25 July 2008. The Scheme will be supported by ATP and Aberdeenshire Council with the provision of funding for the initial launch and for the first years of operation.

Huntly, one year on

I've been remiss in posting and it's nearly a year since the last, and a lot has happened in Huntly. A brief update on some of the previous posts.

Huntly & District Tourism Action Group has been very active. Last Halloween there was a two day event to celebrate food in Huntly - the Huntly Hairst. This was extremely successful and work has started on a repeat this year. Also the development of a series of walking and cycling trails, the Strathbogie and Cabrach Trail network, is progressing well. Other projects are also being undertaken.

Huntly-online is pretty moribund, it's still there but no changes since last year. The website for Huntly is now at www.huntly.net and carries information on all tourism, business and community matters. The site was developed by another designer who had been working on the community site for some time on a volunteer basis. I'm involved with managing the business section on behalf of the Huntly Business Association.

Huntly Folk Club is still active but not at the Rose and Thistle which has recently closed (yet another empty space in the town centre). Meetings at the moment are at the Huntly Hotel on the third Wednesday of the month. Another very active venue is Gartly Tin Hut - drop-in sessions every last Thursday in the month and regular monthly concerts of invited artists. I've just been designing the website at www.tinhutsessions.co.uk, now actively managed by Fraser Wilson of Huntly Herbs.

Huntly Business Association is currently looking seriously at a possible loyalty card scheme for the town. A meeting last night was quite well-attended and enough interest was shown to move to the next stage. More information to follow.

I've updated my own website (www.integrawebdesign.co.uk) to coincide with my move to Rhynie. I'm hoping it might bring some more business...