Will Bodysuits also become part of our Local Economies?
09 March 2012The subject of stimulating our local economy cropped up recently at our BNI meeting and we were discussing a local business fair. The idea being to stimulate money flowing within the town by bringing together businesses that are run by businesses set up locally for their customers using regionally produced products and services. There could be a organization to organization section where connections could be made to help local businesses get to know exactly what was being made in their own region and how their own organisation might get involved in helping to keep transactions moving around in their own town. And there could be a business to consumer section so that members of the general public could find out what they could purchase that hadn’t travelled half way round the globe to reach them.
In principle it sounded like a fantastic notion but when we came to analyze what types of regional organization were actually buying their products from close businesses we began to wonder if there were any of these left. Yes, there are still some local manufacturers on a small scale in the regional environment. We have a local factory but that sources its raw ingredients from other parts of the world on the worldwide market. What about lingerie? Do we have any clothing manufacturers locally? Could anyone find undergarments, such as bras and bodysuits, that had been made in the area or is it all freighted in from asian locations where production methods are cheap? As long as fuel remains available then we will all be able to source materials worldwide. But how long will it be before the price of oil goes through the roof and by then, will we have discovered the magical secret that will provide us with enormous quantities of electricity to power the changeover to electric trucks and electric aeroplanes?
Stimulating the uk economy at different locations with a local currency, as they have been doing in Bristol and Brighton, needs local traders to connect together to keep that money circulating locally. If it just evaporates as soon as it gets spent with a local trader because their chain of supply have to be paid in a non-local currency then we will continue to have a worsening regional economy.
Tags: Aeroplanes, Bras, Brighton, Business To Consumer, Changeover, Clothing Manufacturers, Electric Trucks, Electricity, Enormous Quantities, Local Businesses, Local Traders, Notion, Organization Section, Price Of Oil, Raw Ingredients, Regional Environment, Regional Organization, Source Materials, Uk Economy, Worldwide Market