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LETS in the High Street?

Out of this World....

A new chain of ethical shops owned by their customers is being planned to hit the High Street next year. Out of this World is the trading name for The Creative Consumer Co-operative Limited whose share offer opened on February 4th 1995 and closes on September 30th 1995, the minimum that individuals are able to invest is Ł50[UKP] and the maximum Ł20,000 [UKP]. To get the show on the road they needed a minimum subscription of Ł600,000 [UKP] by May 31st. The response has been great they now have just under Ł800,000 [UKP] and still another six weeks to the September deadline.

The first shop in Bristol is to open its doors before christmas and will stock a wide range of everyday products, especially food, carefully chosen for their positive contribution to issues of fair trade, human welfare, community enterprise and regeneration, environmental sustainability and animal welfare. A second shop in the north east will follow shortly, the plan being to open 12 large shops by 1997.

With their policy for community development Out of this World would invest in its local community by buying from local producers. With this in mind we have been talking with managing director Richard Adams about the possibility of using LETS to keep the local wealth circulating and setting an example for other high street shops in the new way to do business in the twenty first century.

Back in England....

Another forward thinking business is Bishopston Trading Company who now have five shops in the west of England - Bristol, Bradford on Avon, Stroud, Totnes and Glastonbury, selling clothes for adults and children.

The Bishopston Trading Company is a workers Co-operative which was set up in 1985 to create employment in the South Indian village of K.V.Kuppam and to strengthen the village's long link with Bishopston in Bristol.

They have been taking part-payment in LETS currency for a couple of years and have accounts in several different systems.

Business-to-Business LETS

A business-to-business LETS is simply a LETSystem for a specific community of interest. In this case the special interest is business! LETSgo London are facilitating a business-to-business LETS for a group of independent health food stores in the South of England. These shop owners meet regularly and have decided to use a LETSystem to maintain a record of who is doing what for each other within the group.

And Dalston City Challenge in East London are backing a proposal to set up a business-to-business LETSystem for businesses in the Dalston corridor. Trading Co-operatives are among the first to take an interest.

To do Business or not to do Business?
That is the question...

There has been much debate on the issue of attracting business into LETS it has been a sort of chicken and egg situation. Some say by getting businesses to take local money you make the system more real and therefor attract more individual users. Other say that by showing that this local money is being used by a large proportion of the local community businesses are going to be naturally attracted by the spending power of such a large group of individuals.

Either way communities are made up of representatives from all areas and for a local money to work it has to be accepted by all sections of the community. Money is only of use when it moves, that is used as a means of exchange for real things, to keep it moving it has to be accepted by as many as can put it to use. Take a look at your system is there enough goods & services offered that could be used by businesses, an incentive for them being the saving in cash flow.

Businesses are made up of individuals. By introducing the idea of LETS to managers/owners on a personal level, ie take your own personal account and see how it works, the concept of a business account will then in due course come from within as they will naturally see where it can benefit their business.

What's your local experience of attracting business to use local money? Are we talking of sole traders and partnerships or much larger companies.

What is working & where please let us know.